Loma has recently completed the design, development, and verification of the Army’s 60-kilowatt laser weapon system under the support of the Ministry of Defense’s “Reliable Electric Laser Initiative” project. This laser weapon system is composed of multiple fiber laser pointer. The output power reached 58 kilowatts in the March test. It is planned to be delivered to the Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Command. According to Loma, the electro-optical conversion efficiency of this laser weapon system can reach 45%.
If you develop a shipborne laser weapon system, you need to design according to different ship types. There must be enough space on the ship to install the 60-kilowatt laser weapon system, and it will not have an important impact on the ship as a whole. If the efficiency exceeds 40%, only 150 kilowatts of electrical power is needed to drive the weapon system, and this is only the peak power when hitting the target. If the battery is used as a power source, the battery can be charged when the weapon is not running. In some cases, it may only require 100 kilowatts of ship electrical power.
Loma is currently working on converting its 60 kW laser weapon system into the “Naval Surface Laser Weapon System” required by the US Navy. The US Naval Maritime Systems Command issued a request for information on March 7 to solicit the industrial department for a laser weapon system solution that can be integrated into the DDG 51 II destroyer in the shortest time. The output power will reach 60 kilowatts or higher, with ISR anti-jamming capability.
The researchers developed a new process for laser processing curved glass. During the 3D glass hot bending process, the flat glass is heated and softened to form a stable mold, and then annealed to make curved glass. However, these molds are expensive to manufacture, and the process takes a long time. Now researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Mechanics in Germany have developed a laser-based alternative technology, which has lower cost and shorter process time.
The researchers first need to place the flat glass face down on the open space of the oven-the oven has been preheated and the temperature is just below the melting point of the glass. Once the glass reaches this temperature, the researchers will use a green laser pointer beam guided by a moving mirror to selectively further heat the part it intends to protrude. This will soften the glass in these areas as if it were made of thick honey.
Because there is no support under the glass, the softened part begins to sink due to gravity. Once the desired shape is reached, the laser is turned off, allowing the glass to cool and harden in a new form. It takes about half an hour to put the glass in the oven until it cools completely. In other words, according to the complexity of the design, the laser can complete the work in a few minutes. This means that multiple glass sheets can be processed in a relatively short time.