The Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL, was a
laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
developed for
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
use, also known as the Nautilus laser system. The mobile version is the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, or MTHEL. In 1996, the United States and Israel entered into an agreement to produce a cooperative THEL called the Demonstrator, which would utilize
deuterium fluoride chemical laser
A chemical laser is a laser that obtains its energy from a chemical reaction. Chemical lasers can reach continuous wave output with power reaching to megawatt levels. They are used in industry for cutting and drilling.
Common examples of chemical ...
technologies. In 2000 and 2001, THEL shot down 28
Katyusha artillery rocket
Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket (weapon), rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a Psychological warfare, psycholo ...
s and five
artillery shells
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage so ...
. On November 4, 2002, THEL shot down an incoming artillery shell. The prototype weapon was roughly the size of six city buses, made up of modules that held a command center, radar and a telescope for tracking targets, the chemical laser itself, fuel and reagent tanks, and a rotating mirror to reflect its beam toward speeding targets. It was discontinued in 2005.
History
On July 18, 1996, the United States and Israel entered into an agreement to produce a cooperative THEL, called the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator, which would utilize
deuterium fluoride chemical laser
A chemical laser is a laser that obtains its energy from a chemical reaction. Chemical lasers can reach continuous wave output with power reaching to megawatt levels. They are used in industry for cutting and drilling.
Common examples of chemical ...
technologies. Primary among the four contractors awarded the project on September 30, 1996 was
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
(formerly
TRW). THEL conducted test firing in FY1998, and
Initial Operating Capability
Initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement.
The United States D ...
(IOC) was planned in FY1999. However, this was significantly delayed due to reorienting the project as a mobile, not fixed, design, called Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL). The original fixed location design eliminates most weight, size and power restrictions, but is not compatible with the fluid, mobile nature of modern combat. The initial MTHEL goal was a mobile version the size of three large semi trailers. Ideally it would be further downsized to a single semi trailer size. However, doing this while maintaining the original performance characteristics is difficult. Furthermore, the Israeli government, which had been providing significant funding, decreased their financial support in 2004, postponing the IOC date to at least 2010.
In 2000 and 2001 THEL shot down 28
Katyusha artillery rockets and five
artillery shells
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage so ...
.
On November 4, 2002, THEL shot down an incoming artillery shell. A mobile version completed successful testing. During a test conducted on August 24, 2004 the system successfully shot down multiple
mortar rounds. The test represented actual mortar threat scenarios. Targets were intercepted by the THEL testbed and destroyed. Both single mortar rounds and salvo were tested. Many military experts, such as the former head of the
,
Aluf
''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion or "First\leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew; ) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral. ...
Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, considered THEL to be a success and called for its implementation. However, in 2005, the US and Israel decided to discontinue developing the THEL after the project budget had surpassed $300 million. The decision came as a result of "its bulkiness, high costs and poor anticipated results on the battlefield."
During the
2006 Lebanon War
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...
, Ben Yisrael, currently the chairman of the
Israeli Space Agency
The Israel Space Agency (ISA; he, סוכנות החלל הישראלית, ''Sokhnut heKhalal haYisraelit'') is a governmental body, a part of Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology, that coordinates all Israeli space research programs wi ...
, renewed his calls to implement the THEL against high-trajectory fire.
In 2007,
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
requested to reconsider project
Skyguard (the next phase of THEL) in order to fight
Qassam attack
Since 2001, Palestinian militants have launched thousands of rocket and Mortar (weapon), mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip as part of the continuing Arab–Israeli conflict. The attacks, widely condemned for targeting civilians, ...
s.
See also
Lasers
*
Chemical laser
A chemical laser is a laser that obtains its energy from a chemical reaction. Chemical lasers can reach continuous wave output with power reaching to megawatt levels. They are used in industry for cutting and drilling.
Common examples of chemical ...
*
Laser science
Laser science or laser physics is a branch of optics that describes the theory and practice of lasers.
Laser science is principally concerned with quantum electronics, laser construction, optical cavity design, the physics of producing a popul ...
**
Active laser medium
The active laser medium (also called gain medium or lasing medium) is the source of optical gain within a laser. The gain results from the stimulated emission of photons through electronic or molecular transitions to a lower energy state from a h ...
**
Laser applications
Many scientific, military, medical and commercial laser applications have been developed since the invention of the laser in 1958. The coherency, high monochromaticity, and ability to reach extremely high powers are all properties which allow f ...
**
Laser construction
A laser is constructed from three principal parts:
*An energy source (usually referred to as the '' pump'' or ''pump source''),
*A ''gain medium'' or ''laser medium'', and
*Two or more mirrors that form an ''optical resonator''.
Pump source
The ...
*
List of lasers
This is a list of laser types, their operational wavelengths, and their applications. Thousands of kinds of laser are known, but most of them are used only for specialized research.
Overview
Gas lasers
Chemical lasers
Used as directed-ener ...
**
Deuterium fluoride laser The hydrogen fluoride laser is an infrared chemical laser. It is capable of delivering continuous output power in the megawatt range.
Hydrogen fluoride lasers operate at the wavelength of 2.7-2.9 µm. This wavelength is absorbed by the atmosph ...
*
List of laser articles
This is a list of laser topics.
A
* 3D printing, additive manufacturing
* Abnormal reflection
* Above-threshold ionization
* Absorption spectroscopy
* Accelerator physics
* Acoustic microscopy
* Acousto-optic deflector
* Acousto-optic modul ...
Laser weapons
*
Advanced tactical laser
*
Airborne laser Boeing YAL-1
*
High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS)
*
Skyguard
*
Peresvet
Peresvet (russian: Пересве́т) is a town in Sergiyevo-Posadsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Kunya River (Dubna's tributary) northeast of Moscow and north of Sergiyev Posad, the administrative center of the district. ...
References
{{reflist
Military lasers
Abandoned military projects of Israel
Directed-energy weapon of the United States
Missile defense
2005 disestablishments in Israel