‘Greek Goddess’ Melts a Truck Engine From a Mile Away via Laser

ATHENA – the Greek Goddess of wisdom, courage, strategic warfare, strength and arts (just to name a few) – and a seemingly fitting ‘acronymic’ name for one of Lockheed Martin’s newest implements of destruction. Unfortunately, the mythology has to step aside for now. In this case, ATHENA actually stands for ‘Advanced Test High Energy Asset.’ It’s Lockheed’s newest prototype in laser weapon systems.  Let’s get the official tech specs out of the way first.

Per Lockheed, regarding ATHENA:

“…an integrated 30-kilowatt, single-mode, fiber laser weapon system prototype. Through a technique called spectral beam combining, multiple fiber laser modules form a single, powerful, high-quality beam that provides greater efficiency and lethality than multiple individual 10-kilowatt lasers used in other systems…”

“…ATHENA is based on the Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) laser weapon system developed by Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California, which has been proven in demonstrations against small airborne and sea-based targets. It incorporates the 30-kilowatt Accelerated Laser Demonstration Initiative (ALADIN) fiber laser developed by the company in Bothell, Washington.”

Now, for the very over-simplified version:

Theodore Maiman made the first operational laser on May 16th, 1960, at the Hughes Research Laboratory in California, by shining a high-power flash lamp on a ruby rod with silver-coated surfaces. A modern day laser, as we know it, is made by a much more complex series of events. The process starts by pumping atoms and their associated parts full of energy, which causes them to become ‘excited’. When the atoms have absorbed as much energy as they can hold, they then try to go back to a normal state and in the process release this energy in the form of light particles, called photons. Ya with me so far? In order for these billions of particles to become an actual laser beam, mirrors and assorted lenses are added to focus the particles. Once the atoms have released their energy, the process starts again and keeps repeating until the power source is shut off. In the past, all effort was made to focus the energy into one concentrated beam of light and there was a lot of success. More recent technology uses fiber optics to focus a higher number of small beams into one larger one. This concept gives the machine higher power over a greater distance… enough power to melt through the hood and intake manifold of a running truck engine from about 18 blocks away (a little over a mile).

So, 30 kilowatts is… uh… how many laser pointers is that? For a baseline, the cheap laser pointer that you might purchase from the local junk store to tease your cat is about 1 milliwatt. Realistically, it would take 1000 of these to create a 1 Watt laser. With ATHENA being 30,000 Watts, you could give everyone in New York city a laser pointer and if they all push the button at the same time, you are 75% of the way there. Figure out a way to successfully concentrate all that light power into one small, 3-inch diameter beam and you have the start to every futuristic outer space battle scene. Welcome to the death star.

For the initial tests ATHENA is mounted on top of ADAM (ok, stop your snickering). The ADAM, or Area Defense Anti-Munitions, laser weapon system is the ground-based unit for control and powering of these high tech lasers. ADAM has already been used and proven with other systems, passing tests in the destruction of ‘in flight’ rockets, small aircraft and watercraft while fitted with other laser equipment. ATHENA is the next stage of the evolution and Lockheed’s future plan, according to Keoki Jackson (Chief Technology Officer), is to be able to turn this into a lightweight and rugged laser weapon system for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks. Any guesses how long it will be before hand held laser weapons are made practical?

SOURCES:

Ernst, D. (2015). Lockheed Martin’s high-powered laser weapon destroys truck from 1 mile away in ‘seconds’. Washington Times. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/6/lockheed-martins-high-powered-laser-weapon-destroy/

Lockheed Martin Corp. (2015, March 3). Turning Up The Heat: Latest Evolution Of Lockheed Martin Laser Weapon System Stops Truck In Field Test. Retrieved 12 March 2015, from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/m/us/news/press-releases/2015/march/ssc-space-athena-laser.html

Lockheed Martin Corp. (n.d.). Lockheed Martin Mobile · Aculight Laser Solutions. Retrieved 12 March 2015, from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/m/us/products/aculight.html

Townes, C. H. (2003). The first laser. Retrieved 12 March 2015, from http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/284158_townes.html