Lockheed Martin Demonstrates High-Energy Laser C-RAM Application

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Lockheed Martin's ADAM system demonstrates UAV tracking prior to laser engagement.
Lockheed Martin’s ADAM system demonstrates UAV tracking prior to laser engagement. Photo: Lockheed Martin

The Lockheed Martin Area Defense Anti-munitions (ADAM) prototype laser weapon system successfully destroys a rocket target flying on a wire at a range of 1.6 kilometers on Dec. 10, 2012, replicating similar demonstrations conducted earlier this year. Defense-Update reports. Since August, the system has successfully engaged an unmanned aerial system target in flight at a range of approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) and has destroyed four small-caliber rocket targets in simulated flight at a range of approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Acquisition, tracking and destruction of the target took approximately three seconds.

Lockheed Martin’s Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system is a laser weapon system that is designed to defeat close-in improvised rocket and unmanned aerial system (UAS) threats. The system is self-contained to conduct the full engagement sequence against rockets and accepts an initial external radar cue to engage UASs.  The system uses a 10-kilowatt fiber-laser developped by the company to provide the performance needed for these types of threats. The system precisely tracks targets in cluttered optical environments and has a tracking range of more than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). It can as a standalone system and to engage unmanned aerial systems with an external radar cue.

A sequence from a video showing an rocket destroyed by the ADAM laser weapon
A sequence from a video showing an rocket destroyed by the ADAM laser weapon

ADAM detects the threat and within seconds, locks on the target and establishes an aim point. When the system declares a valid aim point, it fires the laser on the target, long enough to negate the rocket or UAS. Lockheed Martin has successfully demonstrated the ADAM system in a series of tests against representative airborne targets in 2012.

Lockheed Martin developed the ADAM system under independent research and development funding. The system is configured as a land-based transportable system.

Source: Defense-Update