Boeing says it plans in the coming months to demonstrate a 1-kilowatt laser-equipped Agile Multi-Role Weapon System, a Humvee-based system against unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices.

Later, the company plans to experiment with the system's ability to lase on the move. The low wattage requires the operator to focus the energy on a target for up to 40 minutes, company officials said at the annual Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala.

Planned upgrade

Also planned is an upgrade to the system to include a higher-powered laser that is designed to target unmanned aircraft in flight and blind their optics. The company is calling the system the Laser Avenger.

Meanwhile, Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser, a chemical laser mounted on a C-130 platform, has completed its regimen of low-power laser flight-testing.

With 27 flight hours, the system engaged targets mounted on boards using a small surrogate solid-state laser. Gary Fitzmire, vice president of Boeing directed energy systems, said the system "passed with flying colors."

Next for the program is installation of the lethal chemical laser on the aircraft and another series of flight-tests, which Fitzmire says will begin by next year.

Meanwhile, Raytheon is set to restart production of laser-guided AGM-65E anti-tank missiles in response to an Air Force request for the weapon to be used to attack high-speed moving targets with less risk of missing.

Gapfiller

As a gap-filler, the Navy is providing some of its AGM-65Es to the Air Force, which operates Mavericks with electro-optical and infrared seekers. The laser-guided version would have greater precision and should reduce the risk of harming bystanders.

Enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan have made their mobility a key skill, so U.S. military leaders have documented a need for greater capability to attack moving targets and are going forward with programs to adapt existing weapons for that purpose (DAILY, May 2).