Northrop Grumman has a new high-energy laser bomber concept in the works that the company believes could tackle a mix of interdiction, strike, and special operations missions. The maker of the B-2 stealth bomber demonstrated its new concept—in a virtual world—earlier this year during an annual war game exercise hosted by Air Force Research Lab’s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Working with a variety of munitions and weapons systems, including an electronic attack platform, a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, and an F-35, Northrop principal investigator Robert Smerke, said, “In all cases, we demonstrated that the HEL bomber could be an effective partner in helping establish air superiority.” The Northrop concept also carried a special ops team in a pressurized, self-contained pod, dropping them into the simulated action.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
