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