Speed of Light Navy: The Electric Ship- Buck Rogers and Star Trek Weaponry

Boeing has been awarded a U.S. Navy contract valued at up to $163 million, with an initial task order of $6.9 million, to develop the Free Electron Laser (FEL) weapon system, which will transform naval warfare in the next decade by providing an ultra-precise, speed-of-light capability and unlimited magazine depth to defend ships against new, challenging threats, such as hyper-velocity cruise missiles.

Under the task order, awarded in April 2009 by the Office of Naval Research, Boeing will complete the preliminary design of the electric-powered Free Electron Laser (FEL), the key step toward building a FEL  prototype for realistic tests at sea.  FELs are capable of achieving the megawatt power the Navy requires for ship defense. They operate by passing a beam of high-energy electrons through a series of powerful magnetic fields, causing the intense emission of laser light.

The Directed Energy Systems (DES) unit of Boeing Missile Defense Systems is developing systems to address multiple defense needs and customers.  Among key DES programs are the Advanced Tactical Laser, sponsored by the U.S. Air Force; the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator, funded by the U.S. Army; the Free Electron Laser, commissioned by the U.S. Navy; and the Tactical Relay Mirror System being developed for the Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Director of Defense Research and Engineering. 

Advanced Tactical Laser

The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) program equipped a C-130H aircraft with a high-energy chemical laser for engagements against ground targets.  In June 2009, ATL fired its high-power laser for the first time in flight, successfully hitting a target board located on the ground. In August 2009, ATL defeated a ground vehicle target from the air, demonstrating its first air-to-ground, high-power laser engagement of a tactically representative target. The ATL team plans additional tests to further demonstrate the system's military utility. The system is designed to destroy, damage or disable targets with little to no collateral damage. These demonstrations support development of systems that will conduct missions on the battlefield and in urban operations.

Boeing’s Advanced Tactical Laser industry team includes L-3 Communications/Brashear, which made the laser turret; HYTEC Inc., which made a variety of the weapon system's structural elements; and J.B. Henderson, which provides mechanical integration support.  

High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator

Boeing has been awarded a U.S. Army contract valued at approximately $36 million to continue developing a truck-mounted, high-energy laser weapon system that will destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds.

Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase II contract, awarded in August 2008, Boeing will complete the design of, then build, test and evaluate, a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. Boeing also will develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD laser weapon system. Boeing successfully completed the preliminary design of the beam control system in the summer of 2008, under the HEL TD Phase I contract it was awarded in 2007.  

In late October,2009, Boeing announced it had completed  a critical design review in July allows Boeing to begin building a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), a widely used military tactical vehicle. A system functional review in June addressed key enablers for fielding a next-generation, solid-state laser weapon system. 

“This demonstration program is making significant progress in developing a weapon system that will transform the way soldiers are protected on the battlefield,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems’ Directed Energy Systems unit. “HEL TD’s speed-of-light, ultra-precision capability will increase the warfighter’s ability to counter rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles.”

The objective of the HEL TD program is to demonstrate that a mobile, solid-state laser weapon system can effectively counter rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles. The program will support the transition to a full-fledged Army acquisition program. 

The Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response (PHaSR) is a rifle-size laser weapon  developed by the Air Force that uses two nonlethal laser wavelengths to deter, prevent, or mitigate an adversary’s effectiveness.

The laser light generated by this weapon illuminates or “dazzles” aggressors, temporarily impairing individuals and their ability to see the laser source. The weapon was developed at the ScorpWorks, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s in-​​house devel­op­ment team for laser sys­tem pro­to­types. It has existed since 1992.

The Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) recently posed  the question: Do advances in solid-state laser (SSL) technology, combined with strategic and organizational factors, point to a high probability that the US could field an operational laser weapon system in the next decade?

What  the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) investigators found: 

-Emerging threats to US national security combined with recent advances in SSL technology suggest that laser weapon systems are capable of making unique and important contributions to US military effectiveness; 

 - Important technical/engineering, institutional, temporal, and fiscal barriers must be overcome for that to happen;

  

- Past experience with disruptive weapon systems argues that, at the present rate, non-technical barriers will be difficult to overcome soon enough for laser weapons to achieve IOC in the next decade—with potentially serious consequences for US national security;

 -Overcoming these barriers requires the convergence of warfighter demand and significant fiscal and institutional commitment by DoD, industry, and Congress;

-The proliferation of guided rocket/artillery/mortar/missile (G-RAMM) provides the most compelling near-term stimulus for laser systems.

Boeing Develops Nano Rhenium Composite Alloys for Space Applications

The Boeing Company (Chicago, IL) developed a process that reduces the amount of the rhenium used in high temperature applications such as rocket propulsion systems without sacrificing its high temperature and mechanical properties. Cryomilling in the presence of nitrogen is used to prepare rhenium alloys with a stable fine grain structure at high temperatures, according to inventors Jerry W. Brockmeyer and Clifford C. Bampton. The rhenium nano alloy has high temperature strength and ductility superior to conventionally processed rhenium and earned Boeing U.S. Patent 7,592,073. The rhenium alloy contains a refractory compound which may include one or more of hafnium (Hf), zirconium (Zr), tantalum (Ta), silicon (Si), vanadium (V), and titanium (Ti), and which makes up between 0.1% and 10% of the alloy by weight.

The refractory compound comprises a nano-scale dispersion that is incorporated into the conventional rhenium structure. The nano-scale dispersion acts as grain boundary pins that result in a relatively fine grained, equiaxed structure that helps to improve the mechanical properties of the alloy and helps to minimize the growth of large grains during operations at high temperatures. Carbon nanotubes, similar to the refractory compounds discussed above, may also act as nano-scale pins that help prevent the growth or the rhenium grains at higher temperatures. Carbon nanotubes typically have a lower density and weight than refractory compounds containing refractory metals. As a result, the overall weight/density of the rhenium alloy may be reduced which may result in reduced weight structures and/or enhanced density-specific properties.

Many rocket propulsion systems use either a pressure fed system or a turbopump system that transfers propellants to the combustion chamber where they are mixed and burned to produce a high velocity stream of heated gases. The stream of heated gases is then exhausted through one or more nozzles to provide the desired thrust. Typically, combustion takes place at temperatures that may be in excess of 6000 F., which may be higher than the melting point of most conventional engine materials. As a result, in the absence of active cooling, it may be necessary to line the interior of the combustion chamber with a material having a high melting point and oxidation resistance. Boeing’s nano rhenium alloys have melting temperatures as high as 6150 degree F (3400 degree C).

Iridium-coated rhenium is a material that is commonly used to line the interior of the combustion chamber. Iridium provides high temperature oxidation resistance and has an intrinsic resistance to oxidation. Rhenium has a higher melting point than iridium and excellent high temperature structural capability. Iridium and rhenium are dense materials that are prohibitively expensive. As a result, the use of iridium and rhenium may increase the overall cost and weight of the propulsion system. Boeing is able to reduce the amount of rhenium needed while improving the alloys’ heat resistance.

The processing of rhenium presents several challenges. In many applications, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) fabrication is used. Typically, high temperatures are needed to deposit rhenium using CVD. However, conventional equipment for CVD produces temperatures on the order of 1000.degree. C., which is much lower than the melting point of rhenium. CVD also typically requires relatively expensive starting materials and processing reactors that are relatively expensive to run and maintain. Other methods of processing rhenium, such as electrodeposition, may also present challenges and may result in the rhenium having an undesirable grain size. Post-processing, e.g. machining of rhenium, may also be difficult because of the high work hardening coefficient of rhenium.

The advantageous properties of rhenium may also be adversely affected, in part, by the processing conditions. For instance, in many cases rhenium properties may be dynamic when exposed to high temperatures. This dynamic behavior may result from grain growth that can occur at higher operating temperatures. Grain growth may decrease the mechanical properties of rhenium. Additionally, current methods of processing rhenium typically result in relatively large grain structures or grain structures that have an acicular grain structure. Such grain structures tend to increase the difficulty of processing rhenium and may also result in the rhenium having reduced mechanical properties, such as strength, at higher operating temperatures.

Many rhenium processing disadvantages are overcome by "cryomilling" which is the fine milling of metallic constituents at extremely low temperatures. Cryomilling takes place within a high energy mill such as an attritor with metallic or ceramic balls. During milling, the mill temperature is lowered by using liquid nitrogen or a similar compound to a temperature of between -240.degree. C. and -150.degree. C. In an attritor, energy is supplied in the form of motion to the balls within the attritor, which impinge portions of the metal alloy powder within the attritor, causing repeated comminuting and welding of the metal. As-milled grain sizes in these metal powders are on the order of 50 to 100 nm.