ST. LOUIS, 19 Aug. 2008. Engineers at Boeing Missile Defense Systems in St. Louis are moving closer to developing a truck-mounted mobile laser weapon system based on solid-state laser technology to destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds.
This video shows the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) laser weapon from Israel.Boeing won a $36 million contract from the U.S. Army to continue developing the truck-mounted laser, which is part of the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) phase II program.
Boeing will finish designing the truck laser weapon, and then build and evaluate a rugged beam-control laser weapon sight system on a heavy expanded mobility tactical truck. Boeing also will develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD laser weapon system. Boeing finished the preliminary design of the beam-control system earlier this summer.
"HEL TD will give warfighters a transformational capability to counter the difficult threats posed by rockets, artillery shells, and mortar projectiles," says Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.
