The Americans sent several Stryker armored personnel carriers with 50-kilowatt lasers to the Middle East
The US Army recently sent four prototype Stryker armored personnel carriers with 50-kilowatt laser systems to the Middle East for real-world testing. The new Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army, General J. James Mingus, spoke about this in an interview with Breaking Defense.
This is a prototype, but we want to experiment in real conditions. Is he 100 percent ready? Will it work perfectly? Probably not, but we're going to learn from it
- he said in his first interview.
These prototypes arrived in the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) area in early February, and initial testing began, but without live firing.
Once they do this, it may take several months to process observations that may contribute to the development of technologies and making purchasing decisions
- he specified.
These types of armored vehicles with mounted lasers want to be used in the future as short-range air defense systems to shoot down various drones, loitering munitions, mortar mines, artillery shells and small missiles.
Our high energy lasers are very sensitive to weather conditions. That's why I think this would be a great lab, because every time there's a dust storm, every time something like this happens, it starts to change the physics of the light particles that are actually emitting that beam
- added the general.
It was noted that the proliferation of UAVs on the battlefield in Ukraine and the Red Sea is accelerating the development and introduction of new weapons to destroy them. At the same time, this raises the issue of the cost of missiles in relation to the intercepted target, which should be resolved by the use of laser systems. If directed energy devices such as DE M-SHORAD prove effective, this will open up the possibility of significantly reducing the cost of destroying a target, the media concluded.
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