According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is seeking high-flying long-endurance drones to carry high-energy laser pointer weapon systems in order to transfer intercontinental ballistic missiles that have just left the launch pad or are in the boost phase and have not yet launched The missile heads were destroyed together.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency hopes that the new UAV can reach a flight altitude of 19 kilometers and can continue to fly for 36 hours. The load capacity is at least 2.3 tons, up to 5.7 tons, and it can carry 140 kW to 280 kW of laser weapons. There are many options for laser weapons carried by drones, including the fiber laser weapon developed by Northrop Grumman, which can emit long-range high-energy laser beams. Unlike traditional chemical lasers, new electronic solid-state laser weapons may also be installed on high-altitude drones for testing.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to initially implement the system in the early 1920s and plans to deploy it at the Pacific Missile Range in Hawaii and Edwards Air Force Base in California, and gradually reduce the deployment of kinetic interceptors. Although the US military has successfully tested short-range red laser pointer weapons used to attack drones and military trucks, destroying ballistic missiles requires a longer range and higher precision laser. Moreover, the time window for intercepting ballistic missiles at the initial stage is very short, and it is estimated to be only 1 minute to 5 minutes. Therefore, early warning radar and UAVs are also required to cooperate in combat.