Flight Test Conducted Over Michigan Could Lead To Laser Weapons On Airplanes

The comparisons to Star Wars abound ... and maybe rightfully so. Lockheed Martin, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and the University of Notre Dame have demonstrated the airworthiness of a new beam control turret being developed for DARPA and AFRL to give 360-degree coverage for high-energy laser weapons operating on military aircraft.

That's right, a laser weapon on an airplane. A research aircraft equipped with the Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) turret conducted eight flights in Michigan. “These initial flight tests validate the performance of our ABC turret design, which is an enabler for integrating high energy lasers on military aircraft,” said Doug Graham, vice president of advanced programs, Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

The ABC turret system is designed to allow high-energy lasers to engage enemy aircraft and missiles above, below and behind the aircraft. Lockheed Martin’s flow control and optical compensation technologies counteract the effects of turbulence caused by the protrusion of a turret from an aircraft’s fuselage.
All turret components met U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness requirements.

Subsequent flight tests over the next year will demonstrate the turret in increasingly complex operations.

(Image provided by Lockheed Martin)

FMI: www.lockheenmartin.com, www.darpa.mil