Lockheed Martin Unveils ADAM, Another Directed Energy Weapon For the US

Lockheed Martin Unveils ADAM, Another Directed Energy Weapon For the US

Susanne Posel, Contributor
Activist Post

The Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM)
system is Lockheed Martin’s newest laser weapon that tracks targeted
improvised rocket or unmanned aerial craft using a beam control and
software to destroy identified enemy fire at a range just short of a
mile.

ADAM is ground-based, transportable and self-contained. It can use
external radar to detect drones and engage enemy missiles within seconds
of a locked-in object. Once ADAM declares “a valid aim point, it fires
the laser on the target long enough to negate the rocket” or drone.




Last month, Lockheed Martin recounted that testing for ADAM was
successful. Doug Graham, vice president of advanced programs for
Strategic and Missile Defense Systems at Lockheed Martin, stated: “Lockheed
Martin has invested in the development of the ADAM system because of
the enormous potential effectiveness of high-energy lasers. We are
committed to supporting the transition of directed energy’s
revolutionary capability to the war fighter.”

Paul Shattuck, director of directed energy systems
for Strategic and Missile Defense Systems at Lockheed Martin explained:
“Lockheed Martin has applied its expertise as a laser weapon system
integrator to provide a practical and affordable defense against serious
threats to military forces and installations. In developing the ADAM
system, we combined our proven laser beam control architecture with
commercial hardware to create a capable, integrated laser weapon
system.”


Shattuck has perfected the
development of military uses to high energy lasers and has been
integral in the creation of “strategic and tactical applications
including missile defense and aircraft self-defense.” He is responsible
for the advancement of “programs involving adaptive and electro-optical
beam control/fire control systems, illuminator lasers and fiber lasers,
and integration of complex weapons systems on a variety of platforms.”

In April of 2013, the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS) will host the Directed Energy Systems Symposium. For the past 8 years, the DEPS have met to discuss “ideas and to focus on near term demonstrations of DE technology.”

Not all of the talks at the Symposium will be open to the public.
Restrictions to access to the DEPS will be limited “to U.S. citizens
with security clearances, who are employees of the U.S. Government or
its contractors.”

Some of those who sponsor the DEPS and are expected to attend:

• Boeing
  
• Lockheed Martin
  
• Raytheon
  
• Northrop Grumman
  

In 2008, DARPA’s High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS)
program was designed to “develop a 150 kilowatt (kW) laser weapon
system that is ten times smaller and lighter than current lasers of
similar power, enabling integration onto tactical aircraft to defend
against and defeat ground threats.”

HELLADS proposed the use of “high-energy lasers to be integrated onto
tactical aircraft, significantly increasing engagement ranges compared
to ground-based systems.” Laboratory testing showed great success and
the final phase of the program included the creation of a “second laser
module [to] be built and combined with the first module to generate 150
kW of power.” This took place at White Sands Missile Range where HELLADS
was pitted against “rockets, mortars, surface-to-air missiles and to
conduct simulated air-to-ground offensive missions.”

Textron Defense Systems (TDS), weapons developer, was given $21
million by DARPA “to design, fabricate and test a Unit Cell Module for a
150 kilowatt (kW) Laser Weapon System.” TDS prides itself on providing
its “customers” with “precision, power and protection through innovative
air-and ground-based smart weapons; directed energy weapons;
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, systems; and
protection systems.”

DARPA has advanced the
technology of laser-powered weapons to “fit under the wing of a fighter
jet or piggyback on a vehicle to zap anything from ground-to-air and
air-to-air missiles to rocket-propelled grenades.”

In 2009, Boeing proudly released limited
information about the success of its Laser Avenger System that utilized
“a combat vehicle [that] used a laser to shoot down a UAV.”


At the White Sands Missile Range, Boeing affirmed that the
directed-energy weapon could burn a hole into “a critical flight control
element of the UAV, rendering the aircraft unflyable.”

Laser Avenger was designed to disable aerial long-range missiles by
directing a heat source to a targeted “weak” point, then causing the
outer casing to rupture in mid-air. Precision technology allows the
system to direct the beam of energy with environmental corrections such
as dust or atmospheric disturbances. Using forward-looking infrared
cameras, the system can work independently and fire upon a target once
identified. The system “zooms in” and uses advanced UAV tracking
algorithms to distinguish the target under heavily obscured battle
conditions.




Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/12/lockheed-martin-unveils-adam-another.html