The US Army has launched no less than 4 programs aimed at designing and manufacturing laser weapon systems embedded in armored vehicles. One of the major points of these programs is the ability to produce enough electrical energy to provide the power necessary for the operation of high power lasers.
The British engine manufacturer Rolls Royce has taken up the subject, and proposes a solution based on the M250 turbine which equips light helicopters like the OH58D Kiowa, capable of supplying 300 KWh of electrical energy, which is more than enough for the 100 KWh lasers planned.
That said, beyond the technical solution, the program will have to face two major operational challenges
– the production of heat, which not only will have to be dissipated, but will probably make the armored vehicle a target of choice for all the infrared homing devices on the battlefield
– the autonomy of the system, and therefore the ability to carry sufficient fuel, knowing that this fuel is different from that used by the engines of the majority of armored vehicles.
The arguments often put forward to promote laser weapon systems are the absence of ammunition, therefore greater firing capacity, greater resistance to hits, due to the absence of powder, and a simplified logistics chain. The solution recommended by Rolls-Royce, although it has the advantage of simplicity and cost, seems to replace the operational implication of munitions with that of a specific fuel. Only tests in operational conditions will be able to answer these questions.