Laser Weapons: The Dawn of a New Military Age PDF
Preview Laser Weapons: The Dawn of a New Military Age
Laser Weapons The Dawn of a New Military Age Laser Weapons The Dawn of a New Military Age Major General Bengt Anderberg and Dr. Myron L. Wolbarsht Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Anderberg, Bengt. Laser weapons: the dawn of a new military age / Bengt Anderberg and Myron L. Wolbarsht. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Lasers—Military applications. I. Wolbarsht, Myron. II. Title. UG486.A53 1992 92-19697 623.4'46—dc20 CIP ISBN 978-0-306-44329-9 ISBN 978-1-4899-6094-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-6094-8 © 1992 Bengt Anderberg and Myron L. Wolbarsht Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1992 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1992 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher To Professor Dr. Bjorn Tengroth, a pioneer who continues to inspire all who work with laser safety. He encouraged both of us in our work and was always helpful. Preface The Persian Gulf war demonstrated to a huge television audience the effect of modern laser-assisted weapons. Everyone watching could see bombs and missiles scoring bull's-eyes when hitting and blowing up bridges, buildings, aircraft shelters, and various types of military equipment. Almost every kind of laser device mentioned in this book, except laser weaponry, was used in large numbers during the conflict. Laser range finders of many kinds supplied vital informa tion for soldiers and weapon systems. Laser target designators carried on aircraft, helicopters, and other vehicles, or hand-held by infantry soldiers, were used to direct Precision Guided Muni tions (PGMs) such as the GBU-12 SOD-pound bomb and the Hellfire missile. One of the main objectives during the air campaign besides hitting the enemy forces was to minimize civilian losses and damage to nonmilitary facilities. To accomplish this, the Coalition forces used PGMs. The attacks against populated areas such as Baghdad by the Stealth F-117 aircraft demonstrate the ability of lasers to assist in the destruction of military targets while mini mizing civilian casualties. Hellfire laser-guided missiles were used with devastating effect against tanks, vehicles, fortified bunkers, and radar sites. vii viii Preface During one night, eight Apache helicopters armed with Hellfires destroyed two radar sites deep in western Iraq. They fired 27 missiles in what was reported as the first hostile action of Opera tion Desert Storm. The success of this action opened a radar-free corridor that the aircraft of the Coalition could fly through un scathed to bomb the Baghdad area. Approximately 20,000 PGMs were expended during the war. More than 60% of them were laser guided. The Persian Gulf war demonstrated the usefulness of different laser devices on the battlefield in assisting weapon systems, commanders, and sol diers. It must be left to the future, however, to find out how lasers may be used in their own capacity to destroy targets with the energy contained in their beams. Acknowledgments We thank Bengt Anderberg's wife, Margit, for her forbearance while he toiled on the initial version of the manuscript. We thank Ove Bring for educating us in the international law involved in a possible ban on the use of antipersonnel lasers as weapons and in war. Many of our colleagues helped us form our opinions, but none should be held accountable for any misstatements made in this book or for the presentation of the details of any particular laser system. This book is based entirely on public sources; see Appendix I. ix Contents Introduction 1 1. Laser Technology 11 2. Current Military Applications 43 3. Laser Safety 65 4. The Laser as a Weapon 89 5. High-Energy Laser (HEL) Weapons 107 6. Low-Energy Antipersonnel and Antisensor Laser (LEL) Weapons 139 xi xii Contents 7. Protection and Countermeasures 177 8. Laser Weapons and International Law 203 9. Conclusions and Consequences 215 Appendix 1. Recommended Readings 231 Appendix II. Metric-English Systems Comparisons 233 Index 237
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