Source: USAF
Source: US Air Force
Source: Lockheed Martin
“DEUCE exposed our visiting warfighters to airborne laser weapon systems and how they might be used to counter threats to accomplish air base air defense and platform protect missions,” says Teresa LeGalley, the AFRL’s wargaming and simulation lead. “We engaged the warfighters in several battlefield scenarios. They gave us some excellent assessments, identifying where there is potential military utility of directed energy weapons.”
The AFRL’s wargaming experiment comes after Lockheed committed in September 2020 to putting a defensive laser weapon on an aircraft, perhaps the F-16 fighter, within five years. Its Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System, a podded directed energy system carried underneath an aircraft, is intended for shooting down incoming tactical weapons, for instance air-to-air or surface-to-air missiles.