Lockheed Martin has revealed a radical turret that allows fighter jets to fire laser weapons at near supersonic speeds.
Because enemy aircraft and missiles can come from anywhere, a laser weapon system on a military aircraft will need to be able to fire in any direction.
However, the laws of physics say that a laser only can engage targets in front of an aircraft that is travelling close to the speed of sound – unless atmospheric turbulence can be counteracted.
A prototype turret developed by Lockheed Martin for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory. It controls and compensates for air flow, paving the way for laser weapon systems on tactical aircraft. Here, a green low-power laser beam passes through the turret on a research aircraft.
The Lockheed Martin prototype laser turret for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), is able to do this - paving the way for laser weapon systems on tactical aircraft.
The Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) turret is the first turret ever to demonstrate a 360-degree field of regard for laser weapon systems on an aircraft flying near the speed of sound.
Its performance has been verified in nearly 60 flight tests conducted in 2014 and 2015 using a business jet as a low-cost flying test bed.
As the aircraft travelled at jet cruise speeds, a low-power laser beam was fired through the turret's optical window to measure and verify successful performance in all directions.
The design uses the latest aerodynamic and flow-control technology to minimize the impacts of turbulence on a laser beam.
An optical compensation system, which uses deformable mirrors, then is used to ensure that the beam can get through the atmosphere to the target.
Credit to dailymail.co.uk
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3280020/Lockheed-Martin-reveals-secretly-testing-supersonic-laser-turret-fighter-jets.html#ixzz3p8BdD94f
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