Lockheed Martin announced Nov. 27 that it has successfully demonstrated a portable, ground-based military laser system in a series of tests against representative airborne targets. Lockheed Martin developed the Area Defense Anti-Munitions system to provide a defense against short-range threats, such as rockets and unmanned aerial systems.
Since August, the ADAM system has successfully engaged an unmanned aerial system target in flight at a range of approximately 0.9 miles and has destroyed four small-caliber rocket targets in simulated flight at a range of approximately 1.2 miles.
Lockheed Martin has invested in the development of the ADAM system because of the enormous potential effectiveness of high-energy lasers, said Doug Graham, Lockheed Martinís vice president of advanced programs for Strategic and Missile Defense Systems. ìWe are committed to supporting the transition of directed energyís revolutionary capability to the war fighter.
Designed for short-range defense of high-value areas including forward operating bases, the ADAM systemís 10-kilowatt fiber laser is engineered to destroy targets up to 1.2 miles away. The system precisely tracks targets in cluttered optical environments and has a tracking range of more than 3.1 miles. The system has been designed to be flexible enough to operate against rockets as a standalone system and to engage unmanned aerial systems with an external radar cue. The ADAM systemís modular architecture combines commercial hardware components with the companyís proprietary software in an integrated and easy-to-operate system.
Lockheed Martin has applied its expertise as a laser weapon system integrator to provide a practical and affordable defense against serious threats to military forces and installations, said Paul Shattuck, Lockheed Martinís director of directed energy systems for Strategic and Missile Defense Systems. ìIn developing the ADAM system, we combined our proven laser beam control architecture with commercial hardware to create a capable, integrated laser weapon system.
Lockheed Martin has been a pioneer in the development and demonstration of high-energy laser capabilities for more than 30 years and has made key advances in areas such as precision pointing and control, line-of-sight stabilization and adaptive optics.
