US air force (USAF) wants to put a 60-kilowatt laser cannon on its AC-130J “Ghostrider” stormtroopers until 2002, but without additional money from Congress, the program can get into research and development “valley of death”.
US air force lacks money to accelerate the development of a laser cannon, U.S. air force Lieutenant General Marshall Webb said during an April 11 Senate armed forces Subcommittee hearing on new threats.
“We are $ 58 million had to complete the program, what would make us a 60-kilowatt laser on the flight of AC-130 by 2022,” said Webb, who is the head of special operations command United States air force.
New Mexico democratic Senator Martin Heinrich said, according to the plan to fire a 30 kW laser demonstrator before moving on 60kW laser demonstrator”, the system will not be fieldable by 2030″.
In February 2018, said Webb “call on laser financing”, during a speech at the Association of air force Symposium of the air war.
“And then of course you will have all end-all of laser questions: are you going to be able to focus the beam, with the appropriate amounts of energy for sufficient time to effect,” asked Webb.
“We can hypothesize about what we all want. My petition, let’s get it on the plane. Let’s do this. let’s say we can or can’t,” the commander said at the time.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
