@LockheedMartin’s ATHENA - Ground based Laser competition to Raytheon’s LAWS as US Military goes Star Wars

“Fiber-optic Lasers are revolutionizing directed energy systems. This test represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged Laser-weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks”

Chief Technology Officer of Lockheed Martin Keoki Jackson announcing their successful Test of ATHENA, a ground based Directed Energy Weapon

If you were an American fretting about your Army not having something in their arsenal to stop missiles like the P-270 Moskit and P-800 Oniks as explained in my blog article entitled “Russians have P-270 Moskit and P-800 Oniks - Defensive Countermeasures for Mach 3 Weapons as US Navy’s Phalanx Laser, Railguns and Kinetic Weapons Ready”, then this article should erase all doubts.

US Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin recently tested a Directed Energy Weapon called ATHENA (Advanced Test High Energy Asset) that is capable of disabling a truck at least one mile (0.62km) away as reported in the article “Laser beam capable of burning hole in car from one mile away”, published 6 March 2015, BBC News.

Lockheed Martin’s ATHENA - Ground based Laser stops a Truck a mile Away

The 30 KW Laser ('cause that's what ‘Directed Energy’ means!) is the first known successful test of a ground based Laser. ATHENA is not a single Laser cannon as one would imagine if you were a fan of Star Wars.

Rather, it combines multiple Lasers that are directed to focus on one object as described in the article “Laser Weapon Stops Truck in Its Tracks — from a Mile Away”, published March 06, 2015 09:27am ET by Elizabeth Howell, LiveScience, thereby solving a heat dissipation problem usually associated with Truck mounted Ground based Laser systems.

In fact, its compact low-energy design means that the ATHENA Laser can eventually end up not only being Truck mounted but also jeep, helicopter and even Ship mounted as noted in the article “Lockheed Martin Laser Stops Truck in its Tracks”, published MARCH 6, 2015 10:24 AM EST, BY STEPHANIE MLOT, PC Magazine.

To quote Chief Technology Officer of Lockheed Martin Keoki Jackson : “This test represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged Laser weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks”.

Best of all, it uses multiple Lasers instead of a single Laser like the Boeing HEL MD (High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator), a Truck mounted Solid State Laser that rides atop an 8-wheeled, 500-horsepower Oshkosh HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) announced back in December 2013 as stated in my blog article entitled “Boeing HEL MD 10 KW Laser successfully Tested shooting down Mortar Rounds and Drones - Portability and stability under Fire are Burning Issues for this Star Wars Future Weapon”.

Lockheed Martin’s ATHENA – Raytheon’s LAWS has competition as Obama Administration goes High Tech

In short, a lot like the Defense Contractor Raytheon and their US$32 million dollar LAWS (Laser Weapon System), which is based on the Centurion Anti-Aircraft system, only packing an IR (Infra Red) Laser as noted in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and Raytheon - Star Wars on the high Seas”.

Currently the USS Ponce, a US Navy ship that's stationed in the Persian Gulf between Iran and Bahrain has Raytheon LAWS Weapons System installed as reported in the article “Navy Laser weapon with 'video game-like controller' set to deploy”, published April 7, 2014 3:33 PM PDT by Eric Mack, CNET News and “US navy Laser cannon shoots down planes”, published Tuesday 9 April 2013 05.03 BST, the UK Guardian.

US$32 million dollars is actually pretty low cost for a US Military Weapons contractor to deploy a Weapon system, which usually runs in the billions of Dollars. However, the Obama Administration has put the Military on a diet and is seeking newer more efficient technology to upgrade their ageing Technology used in the Battlefield.

Hence US$32 million dollars is very economical. So too is the fact that for Raytheon's LAWS as well as Lockheed Martin's ATHENA, the weapons use of Electrical Energy means that there is no need to carry munitions for this Laser; you merely need only power to kill.