Laser weapon is the most likely to be used in actual combat among all new concept weapons, and it will play a decisive role in future wars! At present, China, the United States and Russia have the highest level in the world. China began to focus on it in the early 196s, but it was shelved during the period from the 197s to the mid-198s, and great progress has been made since then! Because the research on such weapons is highly confidential, it is difficult for us to know how far it has progressed. Aluminum garnet (Nd: YAG) laser crystal was made by Southwest Institute of Technical Physics in 1965, Nd：YAG laser was made in the following year. In 1972, high repetition rate Q-YAG laser was successfully developed. Semiconductor lasers for military optical fiber communication also began to be developed in the mid-196s. Within 2 years, China successively developed CO2 lasers, argon ion lasers, ring lasers, frequency-stabilized lasers, far-infrared lasers, etc., and began mass production in the mid-197s for army weapons ranging, ballistic measurement, and artificial satellites. Satellite ranging, atmospheric laser communication, optical fiber communication, naval weapon ranging, army and air force weapon guidance and other systems. In 1974, Wang Daheng led a delegation to visit the United States and Canada and introduced that the strong laser device made in mainland China had produced neutrons, which was impressive. Canadian experts said that the two countries were at the same level. In 1986, a high-intensity pulsed laser experimental device with a peak power of over 112 watts was built in Shanghai Optical Research Institute. Admiral Zhang Aiping named it "Shenguang", making China a country with similar equipment after the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Japan. A new generation of ultra-short and ultra-intense laser device in China was successfully developed by Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics in 1996, and passed the acceptance test, marking that China's intense laser technology has stepped onto a new level. China will make greater progress in the field of high energy laser weapon after 2, and initially have the capacity of mass production. At that time, China may be able to threaten the US "Leona" ultra-high-speed strategic reconnaissance plane operating in the mainland.
second, CYAL-1A airborne laser weapon system of China Air Force
According to the latest theory of developing and perfecting the armed forces, China's Ministry of National Defense is paying more and more attention to developing and equipping new concept weapons. The most striking of these is the high-power airborne laser weapon system. At present, the China Air Force Department is responsible for the overall leadership of the project, while the Anti-Missile Defense Bureau and 61, 63, chengdu and other enterprises that want to get military orders also directly participate in the development work.
63 is responsible for formulating the overall plan for building airborne laser weapons, developing the operational command system and a series of other related airborne systems, installing laser weapon components, refitting the transport platform (transport plane) according to military needs, and integrating various subsystems. Among them, the most important component is the shooting control system. 61 is responsible for the development of suitable optical equipment, beam control system, a series of active and passive photoelectric detection and target tracking systems, and guidance devices for accurately guiding high-intensity laser beams to targets. Xxx is mainly responsible for the development of megawatt oxygen-iodine chemical pulse laser transmitter which can be mass-produced. In addition, the company will also host the construction of a ground support system for powerful lasers. In order to implement the construction plan of airborne laser weapon system, the China military will organize a series of scientific research and experimental design work, conduct laboratory and outdoor tests on the photoelectric system, and compile the system program for automatic control of laser weapons. China experts believe that the airborne laser weapon system must be able to independently discover, identify and destroy incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and various fighters within 4 kilometers. According to the plan of China Air Force Command, the aircraft equipped with laser weapons will be mainly used for patrolling in a safe area 1 kilometers away from the front line, and after seizing the air superiority, its position will move closer to the front line. According to the calculation of China Air Force, at least five new aircraft equipped with airborne laser weapon systems are needed to ensure 24-hour patrol in missile threat areas and uninterrupted surveillance of the enemy. China's current goal is to form a squadron of seven such aircraft in 29. In peacetime, these aircraft equipped with laser weapons will be deployed in the base in China. In order to go to the combat area to carry out strike missions at any time, these aircraft will be kept in a 24-hour combat readiness. In order to ensure the operational efficiency of the airborne laser weapon system, sufficient aviation fuel and chemical reagents needed to generate strong laser beams will be stored in these standing bases. It is reported that during redeployment, each combat aircraft may carry up to 2 tons of chemical reagents. Other support materials will be transported to the temporary base by military transport aircraft. Each airborne laser weapon system includes: a large fixed-wing aircraft modified from Boeing Y8-6F, an infrared band intense laser generator composed of 14 components, a combat command system, a shooting control system composed of various active and passive photoelectric detection and tracking equipment, as well as a guidance system and some support equipment. The modified Y8-6F is equipped with four CF6-8C2B1F engines or RB 211-524 G(H) engines. Its cruising time after one ground refueling is about 6 hours. In order to maintain the required combat effectiveness, two combat aircraft will be deployed in the same patrol area. In addition to the Y8-6F mentioned above, China has also developed an aerial platform code-named YAL-1A. Compared with Y8, the wing length of YAL-1A has been increased, and the cargo compartment door has been reinforced. Due to the laser weapon system, the new machine has a very special shape-the nose fairing is designed to be spherical, and a launcher is installed below it. According to the introduction of China Air Force, the diameter of the lens installed on YAL-1A for aiming and focusing has reached 1.5 meters.
Third, the impact of the emergence of laser weapons on our military equipment:
1. Laser weapons will be widely used in various types of combat platforms to seize the commanding heights of this combat field.
2. Information warfare will be promoted to an unprecedented level. Laser weapon has the ability to attack at a very high speed without advance, and it has the ability to hit the target when it is found. Once it is found, the target can't use its own maneuverability to get rid of the attack of laser weapon. Therefore, on the one hand, we are required to have the excellent reconnaissance ability to be discovered by the enemy first, and on the other hand, our military equipment is required not to be discovered by the enemy. Around this point, our tasks are:
A, to establish a strong CI4 system capability and have the ability to maintain this capability under the interference and destruction of the enemy;
B, with the ability to interfere with and destroy the enemy's CI4 system, the status of electromagnetic weapons and microwave weapons will be greatly improved;
C, vigorously strengthen the overall invisibility of its own military equipment;
3. The application of new materials plays an important role. Countries will try their best to study high-temperature resistant materials and apply them to military equipment.
4. Under the same capability of CI4 system, the power of traditional offensive weapons, especially missiles, will be greatly reduced. Compared with laser, the speed of missiles is too slow, and their infrared characteristics are too obvious, which is easy to be destroyed by enemy laser weapons. Missiles that are close to the horizon (from the perspective of weapons) and hit point targets will be replaced by lasers. The existence value of missiles is: A, they will work on targets beyond the horizon; B, for non-point targets (with relatively broad surface and body targets). But the missile must not be found by the enemy. Compared with missiles, the speed of electromagnetic guns is very fast, reaching 3-5 kilometers per second, which is 3-5 times of the fastest speed of existing missiles of 1 kilometers per second. The enemy's reaction speed is greatly reduced, and the electromagnetic warhead is very small, and the infrared characteristics are not obvious when launching, so the stealth ability greatly exceeds that of ballistic missiles. Once the electromagnetic gun technology is mature, it will immediately replace the position of ballistic missiles.
-According to a Beijing source quoted by the foreign news agency,
Recently, the People's Liberation Army successfully used laser weapons to intercept incoming low-altitude cruise missiles in the western region. This laser defense technology will probably become an integral part of China's missile defense system (TMD). The news also pointed out that this laser experiment was carried out in Qinghai and Tibet Plateau, and the successful application of this technology shows that the mainland has the ability to intercept low-altitude cruise missiles with weapons at present. In the past, anti-missile systems usually used surface-to-air missiles to shoot down attack missiles in the air, while laser systems used lasers to destroy missile guidance systems, so that missiles landed without causing damage. This laser weapon test is a breakthrough achievement made by the national defense researchers in China after decades of unremitting efforts. During the test, the maximum instantaneous power of the laser generator reached an astonishing XXXXX.XX MW, and the continuous irradiation time of the beam reached XXXX seconds. The accuracy of the target tracking and calibration device also fully met the test design requirements. The missile flying thousands of kilometers away was captured in x seconds, and it was directly detonated after .X seconds of irradiation.