{"id":11411,"date":"2021-02-23T20:35:12","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T20:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/23\/air-force-to-begin-assembly-of-airborne-laser\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:44:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:44:05","slug":"air-force-to-begin-assembly-of-airborne-laser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2021\/02\/23\/air-force-to-begin-assembly-of-airborne-laser\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force to begin assembly of airborne laser"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Air Force Research Laboratory is set to receive the first major assembly of one subsystem needed for its airborne laser, although it\u2019s pushed back the first test to fiscal 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) Advanced Technology Demonstration Program\u2019s goal is to build a laser weapon that can be installed on fighter jets to take out incoming missiles. The weapons system includes the laser under development by Lockheed Martin, a beam control system being developed by Northrop Grumman, and a pod to encase it all made by Boeing. Lockheed Martin was awarded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2017\/11\/07\/coming-in-2021-a-laser-weapon-for-fighter-jets\/\" target=_blank>a $26.3 million contract to design and build the laser<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Feb. 23 announcement, AFRL said that it is scheduled to receive the first major assembly of one of SHiELD\u2019s three main subsystems in February. The lab expects delivery of the other two subsystems in July. The delivery this month marks the end of development and production of the subsystems and the beginning of complete system integration, AFRL noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOver the last five years we have worked side-by-side with Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, advancing the technology that would make this system work,\u201d said SHiELD Program Manager Jeff Heggemeier in a statement. \u201cTo finally have the subsystems in the lab, will be a huge step forward in seeing the system to completion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2020\/06\/10\/airborne-laser-weapon-on-track-for-2022-demonstration\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hurlburt.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Airborne laser weapon on track for 2022 demonstration<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Air Force Special Operations Command originally wanted a high energy laser mounted on an AC-130J Ghostrider by the end of 2019.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, a full system test is years away. Originally slated for 2021, in June AFRL <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2020\/06\/30\/us-air-force-delays-timeline-for-testing-a-laser-on-a-fighter-jet\/\" target=_blank>pushed the flight demonstration back by two years<\/a> \u2014 to 2023. Now, the lab says the first fully system test will be conducted in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tests of some of the enabling technologies have taken place, according to AFRL. The Air Force has successfully flown an F-15 with a laser test pod attached, and ground-based laser weapons have been used to shoot down air-launched missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThose critical demonstrations show that our directed energy system is on track to be a game changer for our warfighters,\u201d AFRL Directed Energy Directorate Director Kelly Hammett said in a statement. \u201cThe ability to shoot down missiles in flight, and operate in denied environments, increases the advantage we have over our adversaries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even as the SHiELD program continues to make headway, high-level officials have questioned the practicality of airborne lasers. Perhaps most notably, then-Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin stated last year that the program\u2019s goal \u2014 shooting down missiles midair with an airborne laser \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/2020\/05\/20\/griffin-extremely-skeptical-of-airborne-lasers-for-missile-defense\/\" target=_blank>was unlikely to work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m extremely skeptical that we can put a large laser on an aircraft and use it to shoot down an adversary missile, even from fairly close,\u201d said Griffin. \u201cIt has been done as an experiment, but as a weapon system \u2014 to equip an airplane with the kinds of lasers we think necessary, in terms of their power level, and all their support requirements, and get the airplane to altitudes where atmospheric turbulence can be mitigated appropriately \u2014 that combination of things doesn\u2019t go on one platform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked to respond a month later, Air Force acquisitions chief Will Roper acknowledged that installing lasers on fighter jets for missile threats might not be the best option. Instead, he suggested that directed-energy technology could be repurposed to take out small drones \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2021\/01\/07\/joint-strategy-calls-for-common-architecture-to-counter-increasingly-complex-drone-threats\/\" target=_blank>a growing concern for the Pentagon<\/a>. The Air Force is working to develop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/2019\/10\/31\/laser-weapon-on-a-dune-buggy-will-fight-drones\/\" target=_blank>that exact capability<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In AFRL\u2019s announcement, Heggemeier acknowledged that taking out surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles traveling at mach speeds is difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese are hard problems we are solving,\u201d Heggemeier said. \u201cImagine the disturbances and stresses \u2014 wind speeds, turbulence, and quick aircraft maneuvers that a laser system would have to perform under. We had to solve those challenges first \u2014 and that took time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program\u2019s goal is to build a laser weapon that can be installed on fighter jets to take out incoming 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