The U.S. Air Force has scrapped its latest attempt to develop an airborne laser weapon designed to protect troops from incoming ballistic missiles-a new setback in the pursuit of directed-energy defenses.
Initiated in 2016, the Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator, or SHiELD, sought to mount a laser weapon on fighter jets such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. In operation, the system would be employed against air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, plus ballistic missiles aimed at U.S. forces overseas, according to a 2023 Congressional Research Service report.
The Air Force had hoped to test the SHiELD system on an F-15 Eagle in fiscal 2024 after it completed successful ground-based shootdowns of test missiles. Service officials now say the program has been killed. “The SHiELD program has concluded, and there are no plans for further testing and evaluation,” said Dr. Ted Ortiz, the SHiELD program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate.
This decision follows the recent abandonment of another airborne laser weapon effort Airborne High Energy Laser system, intended for use on the AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. While the system had some significant successes during ground testing, technical challenges proved insurmountable.
Air Force officials say the service remains optimistic about the airborne laser’s future. Ortiz pointed out that the Air Force Research Laboratory is making great strides in high-energy laser technology and is continuing to mature the systems for future operational needs.
The end of the SHiELD program comes as the Defense Department tries to increase air defenses for U.S. overseas forces following a proliferation of missile threats. The Pentagon has marked directed-energy weapons including lasers and high-powered microwaves as key investments due to their low cost per shot, and virtually unlimited magazines. Devices are considered key potential cost-cutting alternatives to traditional air defense systems, which also include the $125,000 Coyote interceptor and the $2 million Standard Missile-2.
The Army has already fielded ground-based laser weapons to counter drones and is working on more powerful systems to knock out fast-moving cruise missiles. Across the entire Pentagon, at least 31 directed-energy programs are in the works, with spending at around $1 billion annually.
Airborne laser deployment has been an aspiration of several decades, with the Airborne Laser Test Bed-a Boeing 747-based YAL-1 developed by the Air Force succeeding in tests during the 2000s to intercept ballistic missiles. However, the generation of such immense power and maintaining a coherent laser beam through the turbulent atmosphere of a flying fighter jet has hitherto remained insurmountable.
Former Pentagon research and engineering chief Mike Griffin identified just those problems in 2020, saying power and atmospheric turbulence mitigation is a very challenging combination to put on any single platform. Then-Pentagon acquisition chief Will Roper went further, calling for a rethink of the applications of laser weapon technology beyond tactical fighter jets.
Setbacks notwithstanding, the Department of Defense is steadfastly committed to directed-energy weapons. High-energy laser weapons are a battlefield reality, providing deep magazines, scalable effects, and speed-of-light engagement, Ortiz said. The potential logistics benefits of using jet fuel for ammunition make air platform integration the logical next step.
Although the Pentagon continues to invest in programs for systems using directed energy against a growing adversary threat posed by attacks from drones and missiles, a dream of airborne laser weapons just may be possible.