Development Analysis of US Directional Energy Mobile Short Range Air Defense Program

Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) capability provides air protection to the maneuvering forces by defeating, destroying, or neutralizing Rotary-Wing, Fixed-Wing, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), and Rockets, Artillery and Mortar (RAM) threats, which is one of Army Air and Missile Defense Modernization Priority. In this paper, we introduce the application goal and development plan of DE M-SHORAD system, and analyze its system architecture and technologies challenge. Then its fighting capability is deduced from its system parameters, and its development is reviewed. The analyses show that it leverages a rapid prototyping approach to demonstrate integration of a laser weapon system into armored vehicles by rapid prototyping method; In order to mitigate the technical risk, the development approach of this plan is divided into two phases, first integrating and testing 2 ~ 5 kW Mobile Experimental High-Energy Laser (MEHEL), and second developing 50 kW Multi-Mission High-Energy Laser (MMHEL). It can be calculated that the maximum range of MEHEL and MMHEL for UAS is about 0.77 km and 4.8 km respectively.