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January 7, 2009
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Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Range: | 10 km |
| Basing: | Land |
| In Service: | 2008 |
| Associated Country: | Israel |
Details
The Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) is a joint project of the United States and Israel designed to destroy short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, ground- and air-launched rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles, mortar shells, and artillery projectiles. It consists of an advanced radar that detects and tracks incoming rockets, and a high-energy laser beam that destroys them.
Since the early 1980s, Israel has faced a constant threat from Hezbollah guerillas along its northern border. During eighteen years of fighting, the guerrillas wreaked havoc by firing numerous small, unguided Katyusha rockets at Israeli towns. The rockets were fast and low-flying and caused considerable damage. Hezbollah’s attacks were so numerous that Israel could not use interceptor missiles. In addition, since the Katyushas flew on ballistic trajectories and landed on Israeli towns unless completely destroyed, Israel could not deploy advanced machine guns such as those used by U.S. Navy ships against low-flying cruise missiles.
In 1995, the U.S. and Israel decided to address the growing problem of low-flying missiles by developing a high energy laser. The idea was to build a weapons system that could detect and eliminate threats at the speed of light while maintaining a low per-kill cost. Since Hezbollah was launching thousands of rockets, the defense system had to be capable of handling a large volume of attacks. In February 1996, the prototype U.S. high energy laser, known as Nautilus, destroyed a short-range rocket at a test site in New Mexico. It was the first time that a laser had ever destroyed a ballistic missile.
In April 1996, Hezbollah guerrillas fired over two dozen Katyusha rockets at Israel within 17 days. After that, the U.S. and Israel accelerated the high energy laser project, then known as the Tactical High Energy Laser/Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator, or THEL/ACTD. Although Israel has not been attacked since it withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, Israeli officials estimate that Hezbollah still has 11,000 Katyushas aimed at border towns.
Once operational, THEL will consist of four main components: a command center, a fire control radar, a pointer-tracker, and the high energy laser itself. The command center, known as Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I), will manage all aspects of the system, including detecting, tracking, and destroying incoming targets within THEL’s range. C3I will be operated by a two-man crew: a commander and a gunner.
Positioned near the hostile zone, the fire control radar will continuously scan the horizon for threats. Once an incoming rocket has been detected, the radar will calculate the target’s trajectory and enable the pointer-tracker to lock on to the target. THEL will be mounted on a large gimbaled assembly that will allow the pointer-tracker to swivel when tracking the rockets.
Once the target is within range, the pointer-tracker will focus THEL’s high-energy deuterium-fluoride (DF) laser beam on the incoming rocket. The DF laser beam is created by mixing fluorine atoms with helium and deuterium to generate DF in an excited state. A resonator extracts the DF and transforms it into a beam of coherent, monochromatic light.
The beam itself is only a few inches in diameter, but is powerful enough to heat steel at 200 yards or more. The pointer-tracker will keep the laser beam focused on the incoming rocket until the intense heat causes the warhead to explode. Debris from the blast will fall short of the rocket’s intended target, thus effectively neutralizing the threat. Once deployed, THEL will be capable of firing 60 shots before reloading. The system will operate at a per-kill cost of approximately $3,000, making it one of the most inexpensive anti-missile systems in existence.
In 2002, Northrop Grumman acquired TRW, the company that had been in charge of THEL up to that point. Northrop Grumman currently manages the system’s development and testing. Other U.S. contractors include Ball Aerospace and Brashear LP, while Israeli partners include Electro-Optic Industries, Israel Aircraft Industries, Yehud Industrial Zone, RAFAEL, and Tadiran.
To date, THEL has destroyed 28 Katyusha test rockets and five test artillery shells. On May 4, 2004, THEL’s new transportable version, known as the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL), tracked and destroyed a large-caliber test rocket at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Ranch in New Mexico. The rocket flew faster and higher than the Katyushas, and carried a live warhead. The U.S. and Israel expect MTHEL to be operational and ready for deployment by 2007.
Sources
Ackerman, Robert K. “Mobile Laser Offers Tactical Defense.” Signal, 1 November 2003.
American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.
Defense Update.
Federation of American Scientists.
“Israel, U.S. Test Laser That Can Knock Down Rockets.” Dow Jones International News, 29 October 2003.
Kincade, Kathy. “Military Moves Forward With MTHEL Project.” Optoelectronics Report, 1 April 2004.
Northrop Grumman Corporation, MTHEL Description.
Northrop Grumman Corporation, MTHEL Press Release, 6 May 2004.
Northrop Grumman Capitol Source, MTHEL Description.
Northrop Grumman Capitol Source, MTHEL Press Release, 21 August 2003.
O’Sullivan, Arieh. “US-Israeli Laser Test Partially Successful.” The Jerusalem Post, 2 May 2004.
Popular Mechanics.
Roosevelt, Ann. “Laser Weapon System Work Could Start This Summer.” Defense Daily, 10 March 2004.
Selinger, Marc. “Army Poised To Award MTHEL Contract To NG.” Aerospace Daily, 8 December 2003.
Selinger, Marc. “Laser To Target Large-caliber Rockets For First Time, U.S. Army Says.” Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, 29 April 2004.
Spectrum Online.
Barak: Israel Missile Defense Capabilities Rising
Israel will have a shield that will protect it from "about 90 percent of Shihab to Kassam rocket attacks within a few years," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset State Control Committee on Tuesday.
Furthermore, we are giving high priority to the production of a system involving several projects, which, within a few years, will provide protection for Israel from about 90 percent of all attempts to fire rockets at us, from Shihab missiles to Kassams," the defense minister said. "In the longer range, we will have, for many reasons, to achieve a much higher interception level.
The Iron Dome, a kinetic interception system designed to eliminate Kassam rockets, will be ready in a few years. The Iron Dome is just one of missile defense systems currently under development, along with the Arrow 2. When completed, the Iron Dome and the Arrow 2 missile defense layers will buttress the existing system which includes a series of Patriot missile batteries and Arrow missiles.
Israel is considering upgrading its current Patriot missile batteries to the PAC-3 model, and debating whether to deploy the Skyguard system, a version of what was once known as the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) missile defense which utilizes lasers to target short range missiles.
» More stories on: Israel
» Missile system details for: Arrow, Patriot, Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
Codevilla on THEL and Mideast Conflict
Angelo M. Codevilla, professor of international relations at Boston University and a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, today discusses the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) and the role it might have played in defending Israel against Hezbollah’s Katyusha rockets, had it not been canceled. Codevilla notes that the technical problem in shooting down Katyushas has always been their short flight time, from their appearance over the horizon to their impact, which precludes the use of any normal Patriot-type surface-to-air interceptor missile. Katyushas are cheap and numerous (they are not ballistic missiles) and could easily overwhelm such defenses. The only way to effectively destroy Katyushas in flight, Codevilla notes, is through rapid fire, multi shot, directed energy weapons. During the 1990s, the U.S. and Israel developed such a system known as THEL, and by 1998 the system had been successfully tested against Katyusha rockets at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Yet THEL was never deployed in Israel. Codevilla draws two conclusions, first that the decision not to deploy a workable defense is a result of “the flawed McNamara logic of almost a half century ago, that defense was not ‘cost effective.’…But consider the cost of not defending against them: the enemy was able to make a big chunk of the country uninhabitable..” Codevilla’s second point is that the ground-based laser technology is similar to the space based laser project which has also since been abandoned.
Codevilla makes good points about the unique capabilities of the THEL program, which is uniquely suited to the short range artillery such as that facing Israel from Hezbollah terrorists. But much has happened with the THEL program since 2000, including successful testing, upgrades, and the transformation of THEL into “MTHEL,” with a mobile capability.
Codevilla’s analysis omits reports that the U.S.-Israel cooperation on THEL was suspended in 2005 after Israel had transferred technologies to China, or of some other details in the THEL story.
As recent events in Lebanon have again shown, the United States and Israel have many and profound common interests—indeed are somewhat natural allies. To benefit from that natural alliance, Israel should perhaps not be transferring systems to China, which of course sells weapons to Israel’s enemies, including Iran and Pakistan. Israel’s lack of THEL system today may be the result of not just bad strategic thinking about assured destruction from the McNamara era (thinking Israel arguably never adopted), but perhaps also from a lack of clarity in the past about allies.
» July 12, 2006: Northrop Grumman unveils Skyguard program, apparent reincarnation of THEL
» May 18, 2005: Glick: Cooperation on THEL suspended because of Israeli tech transfer to China
» More stories on: Analysis, Israel
» Missile system details for: Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
Northrop Grumman Develops Skyguard, Builds Upon THEL
Northrop Grumman has developed a new high-powered laser system known as Skyguard, said to be capable of defending against short-range ballistic missile, cruise missiles, short- and long-range rockets, artillery shells, mortars, and unmanned aerial vehicles. The new system is based on technology developed for the highly successful Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL). The recently unveiled program would appear to be a purely American rebirth of the THEL program, cooperation on which between Israel and the United States has undergone some difficulties.
In past years, THEL has successfully destroyed long- and short-range rockets, mortars, and artillery projectiles. According to a Northrop Grumman press release, Skyguard features greater power and a larger beam, which allows it to generate a protective shield of approximately 10 km in diameter. The system is designed to defend deployed forces, large military installations, civilian populations, or industrial areas.
» More stories on: High Energy Defenses
» Missile system details for: Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
THEL Test Successful
The Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) successfully destroyed a rocket by means of a laser on May 4, reports its producer, Northrop Grumman in a press release today. The test is described as “history making,” because the rocket destroyed was “larger, faster and that flies higher than previous threats destroyed by the laser weapon demonstrator.” A previous test this past week succeeded in its primary goal of tracking the rocket but did not attempt to destroy it. The target rockets in both tests were 6 1/2 inches in diameter and 11 feet long.
The interception comes as part of a series of tests begun on April 29. These specific tests were of a mobile form of the laser, called MTHEL, which will be the first version deployable of the weapons system. THEL is a collaborative effort between Israel and the United States, often tested at White Sands, New Mexico.
In programs such as THEL, the speed of lasers permits rapid interception of both short range rockets with a short flight time, as in the case of Israel, but also the ability to destroy larger, even intercontinental ballistic missiles during their brief ascent, or boost phase. Whereas another land-based boostphase program, the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, must devise methods for the interceptor to achieve extremely high velocities in order to “catch up” with an enemy missile during a brief ascent window, lasers based on land or in space would permit much more comfortable reaction times.
» April 30, 2004: Previous MTHEL test
» April 21, 2003: THEL selected by Army
» More stories on: High Energy Defenses, Israel, Testing - American, Testing - Foreign
» Missile system details for: Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
THEL Tested at White Sands
A test of the joint U.S.-Israeli anti-missile laser Nautilus was successfully conducted on April 30 at the White Sands U.S. Army base in New Mexico, reports the Jeruslaem Post. The Nautilus test was part of the umbrella THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser) project.
The primary objective of locating the missile and tracking it was accomplished, though the secondary objective, to destroy it, was not attempted, according to an Army press release.
The mobile version of the THEL has already been effective against short range Soviet-origin Katyusha rockets which are often fired at Israel from across the Lebanese border by Hezbollah groups. The THEL is expected to be battlefield ready by 2007.
» More stories on: High Energy Defenses, Israel, Testing - American, Testing - Foreign
» Missile system details for: Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
Israel Develops Super Laser
The Ben Gurion University in Israel has apparently developed what is being called a super chemical laser, far more efficient and powerful than previous models. The Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser is touted as having beaten similar programs in other countries for its efficency and, perhaps most importantly, its small size. The Ben Gurion model uses nitrogen as a dilutent, rather than helium, as does other chemical lasers.
Significant improvements in laser technology would be a significant boost to missile defense programs in general. Lasers are of particular importance due to their speed in interception, which easily overcomes the speed of ballistic missiles and permits boost phase interception, when missiles are most vulnerable. Laser advances would benefit not only to Israeli anti-missile programs such as Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), but the U.S. Air Borne Laser (ABL) program as well, not to mention better space-based laser programs yet to be developed. The laser of the ABL, for example, takes up the majority of a Boeing 747.
» Air Borne Laser program description
» More stories on: Space-Based Systems, Technology
» Missile system details for: Airborne Laser (ABL), Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
China’s Laser Weapons Possible Threat to Taiwan
China may have a laser weapon, similar in concept to the United States’ air-borne laser (ABL), which they can and may be deploying near Taiwan, in addition to their buildup of short range ballistic missiles.
The Taipei Times cites Taiwanese defense sources that the laser cannon, with a range over 100km—again, comparable to the ABL—has been deployed in Fujian Province facing Taiwan, and that it could be used to disable military command and control systems. One defense official, however, noted that the cannon may only still be in development: “We tend to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We would rather believe that China has already developed such a weapon and that we should start making preparations as soon as possible.” The Times notes that the United States and Israel have developed laser weapons—the ABL and the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)—but these are used as anti-missile defense systems. It is, however, plausible that the Chinese system is designed to have an anti-missile defense capability.
» June 7, 2000: First THEL intercept
» More stories on: China, Taiwan, Technology
» Missile system details for: Airborne Laser (ABL), Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
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