F-35 High Energy Laser

[Dragon029]

I personally see 3 locations for a laser:

Incorporated into the EOTS or top and bottom of the F1 fuel tank:



If you can only have one turret due to cost / volume, then you want it on the bottom of your jet, because that'll cover the majority of your threats, allowing you to shoot downwards and towards the horizon. If you can volumetrically afford it (and if you can redesign the EOTS aperture to work with a HEL whilst remaining stealthy), placing the optical system / turret where the EOTS sits and using the AEOTS sensors + backend for laser targeting could save you costs and you get a wider FOV, especially in the forwards sector, looking up. The laser generator, etc would sit rearward in the jet and feed the optical assembly via fiber.

If there's not enough room in the nose however, then you might as well put it into the F1 tank. A second turret can be used as well on top. The compromise here though is less fuel carriage and you also need to redesign the lower, forward looking DAS aperture to something like this (the lower turret could be further rearward):

[KamenRiderBlade]

For the F-35A, I see it being mounted in a pod to take the place of the centerline Gun Pod mount.

The pod could allow 360 degree bottom hemisphere coverage

Which would be more than good enough for bombing runs, especially if every F-35A flies over and provides group coverage and network distribution of targets.

If they need to cover the upper hemisphere, they can just barrel roll the airplane 180 degrees =D

[gideonic]

For the F-35A, I see it being mounted in a pod to take the place of the centerline Gun Pod mount.

The pod could allow 360 degree bottom hemisphere coverage

Which would be more than good enough for bombing runs, especially if every F-35A flies over and provides group coverage and network distribution of targets.

If they need to cover the upper hemisphere, they can just barrel roll the airplane 180 degrees =D

I also though they would use the pod for High Energy Laser, but not only for the A model. It should work just as well for B and C as you don't have to carry the gun to every single mission. Just the opposite, I find it quite unlikely you'd want to do strafing runs in a high-threat, area-denial environment.

Regardless, I still wonder where do they plan to fit this: http://aviationweek.com/defense/northro ... ammer-f-35
Positions that Dragon029 mentioned seem quite likely for that.

[spazsinbad]

Air Force Official: F-35 Still Facing Maintenance Challenges
28 Apr 2016 Allyson Versprille

"...Meanwhile, Pawlikowski said the Air Force is continuing efforts to field directed energy weapons.

In the past, there have been two main challenges with directed energy: achieving technological maturity and having realistic expectations, she said.

However, with advances in solid-state lasers, "I think we're on the cusp of actually being able to field a true laser weapon within the next five to six years."

Pawlikowski noted Air Force Special Operations Command's efforts to place a directed energy weapon on its AC-130J Ghostrider gunship by 2020. There is also potential for using such weapons on fifth-generation fighters, she said.

"We've got an activity that's going forward … to put a laser on a fighter aircraft, not to blow up scud missiles or to win in a dogfight, but as an air defense," she said."

Source: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/ ... px?ID=2167

[spazsinbad]

Lockheed Still Supporting Portable Nuclear Generator
03 May 2016 Aaron Mehta

"WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin continues to invest in its portable nuclear fusion generator, with that investment recently entering a more advanced stage, according to the head of the company’s Skunk Works division.

Rob Weiss told an audience at the Atlantic Council that Lockheed is “about four months into a little bit more significant investment” into the technology, which was first revealed around two years ago....

... If the system could be further shrunk, it could potentially become a powerplant for fighter jets, providing the power needed for directed energy weapons and advanced sensors....

...Weiss also confirmed the team has achieved “initial plasma,” an important early step for the reactor."

Source: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /83870398/

[steakanddoritos]

Lockheed Still Supporting Portable Nuclear Generator
03 May 2016 Aaron Mehta

"WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin continues to invest in its portable nuclear fusion generator, with that investment recently entering a more advanced stage, according to the head of the company’s Skunk Works division.

Rob Weiss told an audience at the Atlantic Council that Lockheed is “about four months into a little bit more significant investment” into the technology, which was first revealed around two years ago....

... If the system could be further shrunk, it could potentially become a powerplant for fighter jets, providing the power needed for directed energy weapons and advanced sensors....

...Weiss also confirmed the team has achieved “initial plasma,” an important early step for the reactor."

Source: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /83870398/

Absolutely nuts. Perhaps just nuts enough to work...

[whitewhale]

If only there was an F-35 variant which had a big hole in the middle to place everything and a tunnel direct to the engine for power generation... If only!

[SpudmanWP]

[popcorn]

Well, Gen. Hostage did want a deeper magazine. This could redefine what a 6Gen fighter looks like. Kinemartics become even less relevant.

[popcorn]

http://www.janes.com/article/63185/nort ... f-fighters

Northrop Grumman to develop laser pod to protect USAF fighters

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a USD39.3 million contract related to the development of a laser-based self-defence system for the US Air Force (USAF).

The contract, which was awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on 23 August, is for the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) Turret Research in Aero-Effects (STRAFE) programme.

Northrop Grumman will develop and deliver an advanced beam control system for integration as part of a complete laser weapons system into a tactical pod for USAF fighter aircraft.

As noted by the Department of Defense (DoD), the STRAFE aspect of the award will increase the knowledge and understanding of aero-optic disturbances in a supersonic environment by collecting data during engagement scenarios.

Work is expected to be complete by 31 August 2021.

It is intended that the SHiELD pod would better enable the USAF's fourth-generation fighter fleet, such as the Boeing F-15 Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, to survive in contested airspace. The fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II would probably not carry the pod, as it would negate their stealth characteristics.

Current defence countermeasures divert incoming missiles away from the target aircraft, while the externally carried SHiELD pod would instead destroy the missile. Future pods will seek to increase this power output for greater effect/range.

[les_paul59]

The f-15 is getting all these new toys....new radar, laser pod, ew suite in the 2030's

The f-15 is going to be more like a transformer than a jet soon

[neptune]

...Work is expected to be complete by 31 August 2021. It is intended that the SHiELD pod would better enable the USAF's fourth-generation fighter fleet, such as the Boeing F-15 Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, to survive in contested airspace. ....

The F-135 presently delivers 160 KWe of power (total), by far more than the 4 gen a/c.
A pod air driven turbine generator will be "slightly" less than those.

If this thing works by 2021, then the power source could also be considered for EA/ EW and/ or a data node.

[gergf-14]

Who needs laser when you have eyes like these....

[bayernfan]

The Marine Corps is working toward the day when it could equip an F-35B joint strike fighter with a directed energy weapon, a top service official said Aug. 30.

Putting a laser on board an F-35 is “absolutely,” something the Marine Corps would be interested in, said Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant of combat development and integration.

To get to that point, the service would start by putting the system on a KC-130, which would be a better fit because of current size, weight and power constraints, he said during a breakfast meeting with defense reporters in Washington, D.C.

“As soon as we could miniaturize them, we would put them on F-35s, Cobra … any of those kind of attack aircraft,” he said. Walsh said a laser could also be installed on an MV-22 Osprey.

So far, it has been a struggle reducing the size of directed energy weapons, he said. In order to produce enough power to be effective against a threat, systems are often large, he said.

Yet laser weapons technology is something that will be increasingly critical for the service going forward, Walsh said.

“It’s very important. It’s where we want to go,” he said. Lasers will lighten the Corps' loads by reducing the amount of energy, powder and kinetic ordnance it must carry into the field, he said.

The service is currently working alongside the Office of Naval Research on the ground-based air defense directed energy on-the-move program, he said. The goal of that effort is to mount a high-energy laser on a vehicle.

“The ‘on-the-move’ piece is trying to get it onto a vehicle that we can maneuver with,"
he said. ONR has demonstrated a 10-kilowatt laser and the intent is to move to a 30-kilowatt laser, he added. The system could be used against enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, he said.

Meanwhile, the Marine Corps is preparing to send the F-35B on deployment abroad, Walsh said. Its first operational squadron — VMFA-121 — will deploy to Japan in 2017 onboard the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship, he said.

“Our intent right now is to put six F-35s on to Wasp,” he said. “The squadron … will deploy with 16 airplanes … to Japan. Six will go on Wasp, 10 will stay there as the parent squadron. We can change that mix depending on the mission. So we could probably put up to 16 — all of them — onto the Wasp, but we would being moving capabilities off of it.”

There are also plans to deploy another squadron from another Wasp-class ship, the USS Essex, he said.

“Not only are we deploying it on the Wasp in the Pacific, we’re also going to deploy it on Essex during the same year in Central Command,” he said. “That’s quite the challenge, to put two squadrons aboard two ships and deploy them.”

The Essex will soon undergo modifications to support the joint strike fighter, he said. There are also plans to deploy a squadron with the USS America amphibious assault ship where the Marine Corps is preparing to do more F-35 integration testing, he added.

Putting the F-35 on board amphibious ships requires a number of modifications, he said. The service has "never had that kind of capability [on an amphibious ship] and it's forcing lots of change within the Navy and Marine Corps,” he said. “We’ll … continue to modify our big-deck amphibs to be able to take F-35s as deployments continue.”

The Marine Corps will take lessons learned from these deployments and make adjustments to the aircraft, he said.

“As the first one out the door in operational deployment, we’ll learn from that and see what capabilities … we have to grow into the airplane to continue to develop it,” he said. “A lot of it is going to be school of hard knocks when we put it out there.”

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/ ... px?ID=2286

A lot about the deployment, but assure us once again laser on F-35 is the direction.

[spazsinbad]

First let us LAZER this twat wot writes this LAST paragraph (not shown but elsewhere).... BUT I'll put it in a more appropriate place. Go here for the beer & get Zapped: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=52302&p=351799&hilit=enormous#p351799

Zap. Marines Like Lasers For F-35B
30 Aug 2016 Colin Clark

"WASHINGTON: Lasers. On the F-35B.

Ok, there’s no money, And no timetable. But the head of Marine requirements, Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, told reporters he could “absolutely” see the Joint Strike Fighter armed with lasers. This is consistent with plans we’ve heard from Northrop Grumman for the notional sixth-generation fighter and with the heavy push across the Defense Department to shrink lasers and to arm ships, planes and armored vehicles with lasers.

Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh (1)Walsh, speaking to the Defense Writers Group at a Tuesday breakfast, made clear this isn’t going to happen any time soon. First, lasers would go on a KC-130. Then they would strive to shrink the laser and its power source and only then put it on F-35s, Cobras and other combat aircraft...."

Source: http://breakingdefense.com/2016/08/zap- ... for-f-35b/