WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) The US plans to develop a laser system that can be mounted on an unmanned airborne platform to track and destroy missiles in their boost-phase, the Department of Defense said in its 2019 Missile Defense Review on Thursday.
"Developing scalable, efficient, and compact high energy laser technology, and integrating it onto an airborne platform holds the potential to provide a future cost-effective capability to destroy boosting missiles in the early part of the trajectory," the report.
It would advantage earlier technological advances in beam propagation and beam control, the report said.
"Department of Defense is developing a Low-Power Laser Demonstrator to evaluate the technologies necessary for mounting a laser on an unmanned airborne platform to track and destroy missiles in their boost-phase," it added.
The report specifies some advantages of space-basing for sensors. In particular, it provides better observation from space for improved tracking and potentially targeting of advanced threats, it said.
The new Missile Defense Review presents a new strategy and posture that will set the path to strengthen the United States' current missile defense capabilities and make the case for urgent investment into new ones.
