HYPERSONIC FIGHTERS AND HIGH-POWER LASERS

Internet UFO Group Media Archive

From:ajsamuels@dolomite.win-uk.net (A J Samuels)
Title:HYPERSONIC FIGHTERS AND HIGH-POWER LASERS
Source:Flight International
Date:Feburary 13, 1996


HYPERSONIC FIGHTERS and high-power lasers are among the futuristic

next-generation weapons envisioned for use by the US armed forces

in a report released by the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board

(SAB).

The 2,000-page study, New World Vistas, foresees the use of

precision sensors and hypersonic missiles against surface-to-air

missiles (SAMs), and the development of a hypersonic fighter

aircraft equipped with high-power laser beams capable of destroying

air and land targets.

The report also discusses an all weather airlift capable of

precision airdrops to an accuracy of 10m (30ft), an "uninhabited"

combat air vehicle (UCAV) and the need for a follow-on

global-positioning system with 10mm accuracy. Gene McCall, chairman

of the SAB, says that satellite- and aircraft-borne sensors should

be able to pinpoint SAM sites anywhere in the world for attack by

hypersonic weapons launched from as far away as 320km (l75nm) and

able to strike the site a minute later.

"We can make the operation of SAM sites the world's most dangerous

occupation," says McCall.

He says that it is not far-fetched to believe that high-power

microwave pulses could one day be used to knock out SAM sites.

Hughes Missile Systems was recently awarded a $7 million USAF

contract to study whether such non-lethal pulses can be used for

suppression of-enemy-air-defences missions.

Meanwhile, the Advanced Research Projects Agency is studying the

feasibility of flying unmanned, semi-autonomous, tactical aircraft in

combat. The term "uninhabited" combat aircraft is used to

distinguish it from today's "unpiloted" and "unmanned" cruise

missiles and futuristic reconnaissance vehicles such as the Lockheed

Martin/Boeing Tier III Minus Darkstar.

The UCAVs would be extremely high-performance special-mission

aircraft. They would use aircraft and weapons technologies which

cannot be used in an aircraft which contains a human.

For example, shape and function would not be constrained by a

cockpit and ejection seat required for a human body. Higher-G

manoeuvres and more effective stealth will also be possible, says

McCall.

USAF Secretary Sheila Widnall says that the report will be used to

set the pace for limited research and-development investments and

predict future weapons systems. "This study is not going to sit on

the shelf and gather dust. We have already set aside funds for some

of these promising new areas of research. We will integrate New

World Vistas into the mainstream of air force planning," adds

Widnall.