Rheinmetall HEL High-Energy Laser weapon station mounted on Boxer 8x8 armoured vehicle 0405154
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Military Defense Industry Technology - HEL High-Energy Laser
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| Rheinmetall HEL High-Energy Laser weapon station mounted on Boxer 8x8 armoured vehicle. | |||
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Building on a 125-year heritage, Rheinmetall has once again made good its claim to be the global leader in High-Energy Laser (HEL) technology. At IDEX 2015, defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi (UAE), the German Company Rheinmetall has presented its GTK Boxer 8x8 tactical armoured vehicle fitted a HEL effector module.
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 Rheinmetall Boxer 8x8 tactical armoured vehicle fitted with High-Energy Laser (HEL) weapon station. |
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An Oerlikon Skyshield turret equipped with a HEL-effector instead of a conventional gun was also on display at IDEX 2015.. These systems took part in the Rheinmetall Live Laser Demonstration 2013, an event which set a new standard for operational deployment of the Group’s mobile and stationary high-energy laser effectors.
Rheinmetall’s innovative laser weapon technology draws equally on the company’s longstanding expertise in conventional weapon design and its globally leading air defence capabilities, a combination that makes it especially effective in combating small, highly manoeuvrable targets. In mid October 2013, in the fourth of a series of HEL live fire demonstrations at its proving ground in Ochsenboden, Switzerland, Rheinmetall once again dramatically demonstrated its leading position in the world of laser weapon technology. The event not only highlighted the company’s tremendous progress, but also offered an opportunity to provide concrete examples of the new technology’s functional applications. In terms of installation space, cooling and energy supply, the GTK Boxer armoured transport vehicle is currently configured for a 5 to 10 kW laser. As a 5 kW laser and a 10 kW laser are identical with regard to mass and volume, a 5 kW HEL effector (“Mobile HEL Effector Wheel XX”) was installed completely autonomously in the GTK. |
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 The High-Energy Laser (HEL) weapon station is mounted at the top of the troops compartment. |
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A major advantage of HEL effectors is their outstanding flexibility with regard to escalation and de-escalation. Laser beams are eminently scaleable. When fired at optics, radio antennas, radars, ammunition or energy sources, for example, HEL effectors are able to neutralize entire weapons systems without destroying them.
The Mobile HEL Effector Container L in the 50 kW laser class clearly demonstrated this. At ranges of up to 2,000 metres, the optics of unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely operated cameras were detected, tracked and subsequently neutralized or destroyed. The crew was also able to use its HEL effector to quickly cut the power supply cable of a radar mast and then the mast itself. Laser engagement of an ammo box followed by swift deflagration of its explosive content formed the finale of this phase of the demonstration. The 20 kW-class Mobile HEL Effector Wheel XX mounted on the GTK Boxer features a special HEL effector module that takes full advantage of the vehicle’s unique modularity and Rheinmetall’s proprietary HEL effector know-how, which is based on beam superimposing technology. Moreover, this technology makes it possible to combine several GTK Boxer HEL vehicles, creating a system of systems with an effective power level of over 100 kW. |
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