A Moment of Truth for the Army's Chief Laser Weapon
Military.com | By Jared Keller
Published March 04, 2024 at 5:37pm ET
After nearly a decade in development, the Army's primary vehicle-mounted laser weapon is on a collision course with its most fearsome foe yet -- dust.
The service has deployed four Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense, or DE M-SHORAD, prototypes -- Stryker infantry carrier vehicles outfitted with 50-kilowatt laser weapons systems -- to the Middle East for "real world testing" in an overseas operational environment, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus recently told Breaking Defense.
The four prototypes reportedly arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of operations in early February, with the Army undertaking "initial testing activities" on the path to a future live-fire demonstration, according to Breaking Defense.
While the DE M-SHORAD system has already undergone testing at U.S. military facilities like the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Central Command offers the potential for testing amid real-world challenges like dust storms and other atmospheric phenomena that, according to the Congressional Research Service, could render any directed-energy weapon essentially ineffective.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/04/moment-of-truth-armys-chief-laser-weapon.html
