Latest Directed-energy weapon Stories

WALTHAM, Mass., June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has acquired key business assets of Ktech Corporation to expand its capabilities and opportunities in the non-kinetic effects markets. The transaction is not expected to materially impact Raytheon's sales or earnings in the second quarter or full year 2011. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Located in Albuquerque, N.M., Ktech will become part of Raytheon Company's Missile Systems business. "Ktech's expertise...

The invention of the laser -- more than 50 years ago -- that has turned up in everything from Compact Discs to laser pointers, now has a new enemy: the "antilaser" -- the first device capable of trapping and terminating laser beams. The device was created by a team of researchers from Yale University and is capable of absorbing an incoming laser beam entirely. But the antilaser was not developed as a defense against high-power laser weapons, said the researchers. While such a device seems...

Technologies for using laser energy to destroy threats at a distance have been in development for many years. Today, these technologies -- known as directed energy weapons -- are maturing to the point of becoming deployable.High-energy lasers -- one type of directed energy weapon -- can be mounted on aircraft to deliver a large amount of energy to a far-away target at the speed of light, resulting in structural and incendiary damage. These lasers can be powerful enough to destroy cruise...

WALTHAM, Mass., May 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is proud to recognize the 50th anniversary of the laser and to celebrate the many innovations that emerged since Theodore Maiman of Hughes Research Labs developed the first working laser May 16, 1960. As part of the celebration, Raytheon hosted a dinner in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday to recognize employees and retirees from Raytheon and Hughes Aircraft Company who have been central to the company's laser...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) and the U.S. Air Force on Sept. 19 damaged a moving ground vehicle from the air using the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) aircraft, completing ATL's first air-to-ground, high-power laser engagement of a mobile target. During the test, the C-130H aircraft took off from Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque and fired a high-power chemical laser through its beam control system while flying over White Sands...

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory are developing a new technology for use in underwater acoustics. The new technology uses flashes of laser light to remotely create underwater sound. The new acoustic source has the potential to expand and improve both Naval and commercial underwater acoustic applications, including undersea communications, navigation, and acoustic imaging. Dr. Ted Jones, a physicist in the Plasma Physics Division, is leading a team of researchers from the Plasma...

The US military has successfully completed the first firing of a laser weapon system residing on a 747 plane. The Airborne Laser (ABL) was envisaged to deflect enemy ballistic missiles in the premature stages of their launch. Engineers carried out the trial at ground level, shooting the laser all the way through a turret perched on the front of the plane at a virtual target. The multi-billion dollar ABL agenda has been in place for at least 12 years. Scientists are reportedly finding other...

U.S. engineers have started testing a military plane equipped with a powerful laser that has the ability to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles in the early stages of their flight. To test its sequencing and control, engineers have started flowing chemical fuel through the laser.The process begins the first test firing of the US Air Force's Airborne Laser (ABL) while it is on the ground."The Airborne Laser team has done a great job preparing the high-energy laser for these fuel tests,...

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A U.S. Pentagon invention could make air combat resemble a battle scene from the movie 'Star Wars' with a laser so small it can fit on a fighter jet, yet powerful enough to knock down an enemy missile in flight.The High Energy Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), being designed by the Pentagon's central research and development agency, will weigh just 750 kg (1,650 lb) and measures the size of a large fridge.To date, such lasers have been so bulky because of the...

LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. Pentagon invention could make air combat resemble a battle scene from Star Wars, with a laser so small it can fit on a fighter jet, yet powerful enough to knock down an enemy missile in flight. The High Energy Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), being designed by the Pentagon's central research and development agency, will weigh just 750 kg (1,650 lb) and measures the size of a large fridge. To date, such lasers have been so bulky because of the need for...