Page 82 - Australian Defence Mag Sep 2020

82 DEFENCE BUSINESS VIEW FROM CANBERRA
SEPTEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
UNMANNED
FUTURE, NOW
WITH LASERS
Here’s a vision of future war. As an enemy tank inches into view, a beam of energy lances out from an Australian Army Funnelweb Advanced Combat Vehicle and in an instant, the target disappears in an incandescent blast of exploding ammunition, lithium batteries and hapless onboard personnel. Yes the Australian Army is seriously thinking about directed energy weapons.
A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | CANBERRA
THE 2020 Force Structure Plan mandates a future program to develop a directed energy weapon system able to be in- tegrated onto ADF protected and armoured vehicles and capable of defeating armoured vehicles up to and including main battle tanks.
Would this be a laser, particle beam or even a stream of anti-matter, a staple of the science fiction novels this cor- respondent periodically devours?
Research on laser weapons has been under way pretty much since the invention of the laser in 1960 and this would appear to be closest to a viable military weapon.
For example, the US has trialled the AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System aboard some of its warships, with sufficient promise to justify procurement of additional systems for on- going trials.
Lasers are an alluring capability but with significant cave- ats. In theory, lasers are awesome against inbound missiles, drones and fast watercraft. But targeting software needs to be exceptional to maintain lock long enough to transfer suffi- cient energy to cause damage, a true challenge when dealing with very fast missiles.
Recently Israel demonstrated a vehicle mounted laser against small distant manoeuvring drones.
Laser weapons demand vast power, which is most easily delivered aboard ships. On the plus side, operation is cheap – Wikipedia cites US59 cents per shot for the AN/SEQ-3, as against a couple of million per SM-6.
Conceivably Australian armoured vehicles of the future will be powered by small nuclear or even fusion reactors, with abundant power for a directed energy weapon. Until then it would seem, the best way for tanks to kill other tanks is by way of precision gunnery.
The Force Structure Plan proposes another measure with potential for significant controversy – smart anti-tank mines. Australia was an early signatory to the Ottawa Conven- tion which bans anti-personnel landmines but not anti-tank mines. Smart mines are designed to be much more discrimi- nating in their targeting and also to disarm on command or
self-destruct after a certain period.
Sounds fine, but a claimed failure rate of up to 10 per cent
could give sufficient ammo to those who will surely claim they would pose an unacceptable risk to civilians.
UNMANNED TRIALS
In one area, Australia could be ahead of the curve – fielding autonomous vehicles for actual use in combat. The US also aspires in this direction and stipulated an optionally crewed capability for its next generation of Infantry Fighting Vehi- cles (IFVs) to replace their large fleet of ageing Bradleys.
That has proved challenging, with third selection program grinding to a halt in mid-January when just one company, GDLS, managed to meet the deadline to submit a prototype for evaluation.
That excluded some who should have been serious con- tenders and it seems to US Army sought too much in too short a time. So for choosing a new IFV, Australia, with Proj- ect Land 400 Phase 3, is ahead , with two shortlisted players now undergoing evaluation.
The Australian Army didn’t specify an optionally crewed
ABOVE: A Ghost Robotics robot stands ready with Australian Army soldiers during an autonomous systems showcase at the Majura Training Area, Canberra.