題名には必ず「阿修羅さんへ」と記述してください。
掲示板,ＭＬを含むこのサイトすべての
一切の引用、転載、リンクを許可いたします。確認メールは不要です。
引用元リンクを表示してください。
| Tweet |
回答先: ロシア、共同ミサイル防衛システム構想計画案をNATOに提出へ(ロイター) 投稿者 FP親衛隊国家保安本部 日時 2000 年 6 月 08 日 13:33:18:
なーんかいいタイミングですね。(^^;
----
World's First Ray Gun Shoots Down Missile
Redondo Beach - June 7, 2000 - TRW, the U.S. Army and
the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMoD) have blazed a
new trail in the history of defensive warfare by using
the Army's Tactical High Energy Laser/Advanced
Concept Technology Demonstrator (THEL/ACTD), the
world's first high-energy laser weapon system
designed for operational use, to shoot down a rocket
carrying a live warhead.
The successful intercept and destruction of a
Katyusha rocket occurred on June 6 at approximately
3:48 p.m. EDT at the Army's High Energy Laser
Systems Test Facility (HELSTF), White Sands Missile
Range, New Mexico.
The shoot-down was achieved during a high-power
laser tracking test conducted as part of the ongoing THEL/ACTD integration process.
"We've just turned science fiction into reality," said Lt. Gen. John Costello, Commanding
General, U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command.
"This compelling demonstration of THEL's defensive capabilities proves that directed
energy weapon systems have the potential to play a significant role in defending U.S.
national security interests worldwide."
"This shoot-down is an exciting and very important development for the people of Israel,"
said Major General Dr. Isaac Ben-Israel, Director of MAFAT, Israel Ministry of Defence.
"With this success, THEL/ACTD has taken the crucial first step to help protect the
communities along our northern border against the kind of devastating rocket attacks we've
suffered recently."
"The THEL/ACTD shoot-down is a watershed event for a truly revolutionary weapon," said
Tim Hannemann, executive vice president and general manager, TRW Space & Electronics
Group, the THEL/ACTD system prime contractor.
"It also provides a very positive opportunity for our customers to consider developing more
mobile versions of THEL." Any future THEL developments would benefit from continued
testing and performance evaluations of the THEL/ACTD's current subsystems, he added.
For this critical first test of THEL/ACTD's defensive capabilities, an armed Katyusha rocket
was fired from a rocket launcher placed at a site in White Sands Missile Range.
Seconds later, the THEL/ACTD, located several miles away at HELSTF, de
tected the launch
with its fire control radar, tracked the streaking rocket with its high precision pointer tracker
system, then engaged the rocket with its high- energy chemical laser.
Within seconds, the 10-foot-long, 5-inch-diameter rocket exploded.
According to Hannemann, the THEL/ACTD shoot-down represents significant
advancements in the maturity of engineering technologies used to design and build
deployable directed energy weapon systems.
"In February 1996, as part of the Nautilus laser test program, TRW, the Army and the IMoD
used the Mid Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL) and the SeaLite Beam Director
installed at HELSTF to intercept and destroy a Katyusha rocket," he said.
"Those tests established high-energy laser lethality against short-range rocket threats, but
we had to use a large facility-based laser and beam control system to perform the test." By
contrast, he added, THEL/ACTD was designed and produced as a stand-alone defensive
weapon system.
Its primary subsystems have been packaged in several transportable, semi-trailer-sized
shipping containers, allowing it to be deployed to other test or operational locations.
The U.S. currently has no weapon systems capable of protecting soldiers or military assets
involved in regional conflicts against short-range rocket attacks.
Conventional missile-based defense systems, such as the Army's Theater High Altitude
Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot Advanced Capability -3 (PAC-3), are designed to defend
against longer range threats such as Scud missiles.
By comparison, tactical directed energy systems such as THEL/ACTD send out "bullets" at
the speed of light, allowing them to intercept and destroy "last minute" or low-flying threats
such as rockets, mortars or cruise missiles on a very short timeline.
"It's pretty hard to run from a laser," said Hannemann.
The THEL/ACTD was designed, developed and produced by a TRW-led team of U.S. and
Israeli contractors for the U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala.,
and the Israel Ministry of Defence.
Requirements for the system have been driven in part by Israel, which needs to protect
civilians living in towns and communities along its northern border against rocket attacks by
terrorist guerrillas.
TRW has been engaged in laser research
and development since the early 1960s. The
company produces solid-state lasers for defense and industrial applications, and designs
and develops a variety of high-energy chemical lasers for space, ground and airborne
missile defense applications.
題名には必ず「阿修羅さんへ」と記述してください。