The fatal flaws of lack of self-defense capability and poor maneuverability make it vulnerable to attack by enemy fighters and air defense systems. In the end, after several trials, the plan was abandoned 4 years ago. In 2009, the then Secretary of Defense Gates admitted at a White House hearing that the reality is that a laser pointer with a power 20-30 times greater than a chemical laser needs to be installed in the aircraft to be farther away from the launching position. Fire.
For example, he said, in order to shoot down an Iranian ballistic missile, “a laser-carrying aircraft must hover in Iran to find a chance to use its laser to shoot down the missile in the boost phase. If it is to be deployed in actual combat, 10-20 modifications will be required. The latter Boeing 747. Based on the value of each aircraft at 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, the annual operation and maintenance costs are 100 million U.S. dollars. As far as I know, no one thinks it is feasible.”
Although this plan was forced to dismount, Surin believed that it proved that the idea of laser anti-missile interception was feasible. “If there is enough power, enough beam energy, and enough height, it is theoretically feasible to intercept ballistic missiles at various ranges.” Xu Lin optimistically declared that more reliable performance and capabilities can be developed in the next three years. More powerful laser technology, and build a long-range high-altitude drone that can carry laser weapons. This kind of drone will “certainly” use stealth technology to avoid being discovered by the enemy. At the same time, it can also cruise for a long time and launch an attack outside the range of the opponent’s air defense system.
But military experts generally acknowledge that the biggest challenge of the Pentagon’s new plan is to develop a laser with a longer range and lighter weight so that it can be installed in a drone with a limited load. But the Pentagon insists that the breakthroughs made in laser technology in the next few years will be advanced enough to meet this challenge.
A Chinese expert told reporters that the current laser countermeasure devices installed by the Air Force on transport aircraft can only interfere with the seekers of infrared missiles at a relatively close range. Although the size of the green laser pointer weapons being tested by the Navy and the Army has been reduced, they are still far away. Non-existing drones can be carried, and can only deal with small drones and ships several kilometers away.
Obviously, it will take time to develop a laser capable of destroying ballistic missiles outside the range of the opponent’s air defense missiles. The expert said that in addition to the laser itself, the drone as a launch platform is also not simple. If such an unmanned aerial vehicle has the ability to fly continuously for several days, adopts stealth technology that is difficult to detect, and carries a high-energy laser, then its volume must not be small. Such a large long-endurance stealth drone will be as difficult and costly to build as a bomber.