Redondo Beach, CA, May 6, 2004--The battlefield laser weapon is inching its way closer to reality. Previously tested against small rockets, the U.S. Army's Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) testbed has for the first time destroyed a large-caliber rocket in flight. The demonstrator laser was built by Northrop Grumman Corporation for the Army and the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMoD). The MTHEL is a deuterium fluoride chemical laser emitting at a 3.8-micron wavelength; its optical power is as yet undisclosed.
The intercept and destruction of the large-caliber rocket carrying a live warhead took place on May 4 at 12:45 p.m. MDT during a live-fire test of the MTHEL testbed at the Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The large-caliber rocket is capable of twice the range, achieves more than three times the altitude, and carries a much larger warhead than previous targets of the MTHEL, which include Katyusha rockets. The destroyed large-caliber rocket is claimed to be representative of threats faced by U.S. and Israeli forces.
The MTHEL is being developed to give the Army its first deployable laser weapon system. Northrop Grumman began work on the existing testbed in 1996 when it was called the THEL/Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (ACTD). MTHEL will be the first tactical and mobile directed-energy weapon capable of shooting down rockets and other tactical targets in flight. Although the bulky THEL can be transported, the desire for a mobile system that can operate not only on a standard Army truck but also on unmanned aerial vehicles and rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft spurred the MTHEL design.
The existing MTHEL testbed was designed, developed and produced by a Northrop Grumman-led team of U.S. and Israeli contractors for the U.S. Space & Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala., and for IMoD. In addition to Northrop Grumman's Space Technology and Mission Systems sectors, U.S. companies involved in testbed development are Ball Aerospace (Boulder, CO) and Brashear LP (Pittsburgh, PA). Israeli companies that supported THEL ACTD development are Electro-Optic Industries, Ltd. (Rehovat); Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd. (Yehud Industrial Zone); RAFAEL (Haifa); and Tadiran (Holon).
In testing to date, the MTHEL testbed has destroyed 28 Katyusha rockets and five artillery shells in flight.