Will the F-22's replacement look something like this?

The reason for asking that is David Eshel's Q&A with Isaac Ben-Israel in the June issue of DTI. Don't miss it and that goes double if you're a directed-energy weapon skeptic.

Former head of IDF R&D, politician and academic, Ben-Israel talks about Israel's version of President Reagan's dream: using lasers to shoot down missiles. He drives home a few key points.

He believes that lasers are the only viable defense against short-range rocket attacks, and quotes operational ranges.

Ben-Israel explains succinctly why Israel didn't adopt the Northrop Grumman (then TRW) Nautilus chemical laser, and failed to develop its operational follow-on, the Tactical High Energy Laser.

He goes on to assert that solid-state laser technology will be ready to deploy within about three years. That's as optimistic as US researchers (see DTI April, page 32) - more so, in some cases - and suggests that there's some robust research under way in Israel.

Nautilus, like the Airborne Laser or Advanced Tactical Laser, used chemical fuels - generally, volatile and dangerous  chemicals. Solid-state lasers, like a laser pointer or target designator, generate a high-energy light beam using special optical materials, and need only power and cooling. The challenge is efficiency, because that brings power and cooling requirements within reason.

A practical, supportable solid-state laser weapon, capable of destroying a missile before it can hit its target, is a revolutionary weapon. If Ben-Israel is right, we're not far away from self-defense lasers that could be deployed on ships or large aircraft:  and who needs agility if your defensive weapon offers equal effectiveness in every direction?

I remember in the early 1990s seeing a serious presentation of a "laser fighter" which was essentially a flying wing with laser turrets above and below the centerbody. I seem to recall that designer Dan Raymer was chairing the session and described it as "the best presentation that I have ever disagreed with in every detail."

But if you need payload, power and space, and not as much agility, you have the same requirements that drove the P-61 Black Widow design in the 1940s. And it may not have looked like a fighter, but its operational record told a different story.

pic: USAF, US Army