HOW CAN OLDER FIGHTER JETS STAY ALIVE while flying the deadly skies? With a little help from lasers. The US Air Force is working with Lockheed Martin on a defence system called Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHIELD), a pod-mounted laser that will protect fighters from incoming air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. The system, which the air force wants to place on planes by the mid-2020s, will likely initially protect older fighters that can't take advantage of stealth to hide from the enemy. Lockheed is also working on a separate weapon, Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System (TALWS), that will use program data from SHIELD.
Today's fighters are largely limited to passive defences against incoming missiles. Pilots can try to take evasive action by flying outside an incoming missile's sensor arc, launching flares to distract an infrared missile seeker, or spreading strips of aluminium foil, known as ‘chaff, to confuse a missile guided by radar. A laser would be the first real active anti-missile defence in the world of air combat, actively trying to shoot down a missile.
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