Northrop Unveils Skyguard Laser Air Defense System
By Jefferson Morris
07/13/2006 09:18:30 AM

Northrop Grumman has unveiled its new Skyguard laser defense system, a high-energy chemical laser designed to protect against rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats that the company hopes to market both to the military and to the Homeland Security Department to protect commercial airliners.

Building on the company's Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) program, Skyguard could protect aircraft from man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) shoulder-fired rockets out to a range of roughly 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), according to Dan Wildt, Northrop's director of business development for directed energy systems.

Against harder RAM targets, the effective range is 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). Weather can degrade the system but not nullify it, Wildt said during a presentation in Arlington, Va., on July 12.

Variant

The company recently turned in a proposal for a study contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to look at off-aircraft forms of airliner protection (DAILY, April 25). Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems already are developing counter-MANPADS systems designed to fly on the airliners themselves.

Mike McVey, Northrop Grumman's vice president for directed energy systems, estimates the first Skyguard system would cost between $150 million and $200 million, to cover nonrecurring development costs. If purchased in sufficient quantities to protect the nation's airports, the cost could drop to between $25 million and $30 million apiece, he said.

The company also has proposed a Skyguard variant as part of an ongoing Missile Defense Agency (MDA) summer study looking at defending against short-range ballistic missiles launched from coastal waters toward the U.S. homeland.

The company has spoken to the services about using Skyguard to protect deployed forces, air bases or other military installations. It also has spoken with Israel, which co-sponsored THEL development, about buying Skyguard, Wildt said.

'Window of vulnerability'

The system's exhaust is mostly helium and steam, and requires a "keep out zone" of 30 meters (32.8 yards), which the company says is smaller than conventional rocket systems such as Stinger and Patriot. If required, a scrubber could be added to the system to make the exhaust completely safe, McVey said. Because of the chemical fuels required, each Skyguard shot costs about $1,000.

Northrop Grumman, which inherited its laser business through the acquisition of TRW, has been lobbying for laser weapons on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon (DAILY, Jan. 19). Long a supporter of chemical lasers, the Army recently has shifted its focus to more mobile solid-state lasers, which are less bulky but also much less powerful than their more mature chemical cousins, McVey said.

Solid-state systems are still several years off, leaving a "window of vulnerability" in the meantime, according to McVey. "We still think the fixed-area protection, both domestically and internationally, is a real threat," he said.

Northrop Grumman and Textron are both under contract to demonstrate 100-kilowatt solid-state lasers by 2008 under the Joint High Powered Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) program (DAILY, Jan. 11).


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