Raytheon said its prototype solid-state Laser Area Defense System, or LADS, "successfully detonated 60-millimeter mortars at a range greater than 550 yards within the tactical timeline in static ground testing conducted in partnership with the United States government." The company described the tests as "groundbreaking' and said the results had been achieved "in less than six months."

"The LADS demonstration used a proven, existing, off-the-shelf solid-state laser, coupled with commercially available optics technology," Raytheon said. "The goal of the demonstration was to rapidly prove that lasers can yield military utility now by demonstrating that such a system could protect warfighters against mortars."

"Secondary goals of the demonstration were to offer a near-term alternative to chemical lasers, which may create logistics challenges for the warfighter, and to prove that existing optical and targeting components can significantly lower total laser system costs and speed their ultimate transition to the warfighter," the company said.

Raytheon said its solid-state laser technology also ensured that the operation of the LADS was "safe to the environment, does away with the need for caustic chemicals and radically reduces the life-cycle cost."

"LADS is highly mobile and has the operational capability to simultaneously engage multiple targets at tactically relevant ranges," the company said. "The laser system is powered by a commercially available generator or grid electricity and provides an extremely inexpensive, almost infinite magazine for countering mortar and rocket threats."

"In just six short months, Raytheon and government engineers went from an idea to operational field testing of a solid-state laser system that offers the potential of near-term protection for our troops," said Mike Booen, vice president of Advanced Missile Defense and Directed Energy Weapons at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. "Our solid-state LADS proves you don't have to wait another three to five years for solid-state lasers to have military utility on the battlefield. They are ready now, with no chemicals required."

Raytheon said that the LADS was an evolutionary development of its established Phalanx weapon system that fires 20 mm armor piercing ammunition. Raytheon has made more than 900 Phalanx systems and has sold them to 24 nations. It provides "fast and precise search, track and engage capabilities for directing the laser energy on target," the company said.

"The next logical step for LADS is dynamic field testing in 2007," the company said.

Boeing gives Raytheon XBR radar contract

The Raytheon Company announced last week it had won a $32.7 million subcontract from Boeing for work on the X-Band Radar, or XBR, portion of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, or SBX.

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, or IDS, is the prime contractor for the Ground Based Midcourse Defense, or GMD program, which is primarily based around Fort Greely, Alaska.

"Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems will provide trained personnel for on-platform sustainment and operation of the XBR along with radar maintenance and development of spares," the company said. "The contract will run through 2007, and work will be performed at the company's Missile Defense Center in Woburn, Mass., and Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, Mass., and by Raytheon Technical Services Company on site at the SBX platform."

"This award signals that the Sea-Based XBR is entering a new phase as it takes its place in the BMDS," said Pete Franklin, vice president, Raytheon IDS Missile Defense Business Area. "Raytheon's XBR is a key element of the Missile Defense Agency's vision of protecting our country from all ranges of threats, and we're committed to providing a missile defense capability to meet the MDA's mission with no doubt."

"As a primary sensor for the BMDS, the XBR performs the critical functions of cued acquisition, target tracking, discrimination and engagement hit assessment," Raytheon said.

The radar will help identify the hostile warhead from the decoys and countermeasures, providing additional capability for interceptor missiles to protect the U.S. and its friends and allies from ballistic missile attacks," the company said.

"Aboard the relocatable SBX, the XBR can be positioned in the ocean to support both testing and provide radar coverage for possible threat missile launches throughout the world," it said.

Japan's bureaucrats drag feet on BMD plans

The Japanese government still faces a major challenge in getting its own bureaucracy and local government authorities to agree to U.S. requirements for flying in capital infrastructure to boost Japan's ballistic missile defense capabilities.

The U.S. armed forces are still seeking "to confirm details of facilities, such as the capability to unload goods, refuel and store equipment, firefighting capabilities, security provisions and space for parked aircraft," the Tokyo newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported this week in an article carried Wednesday in the Manila Times.

"The highest hurdle for the government is negotiating with the U.S. side, relevant ministries and local governments," the Yoniuri Shimbun report said.

"The U.S. forces wish to use major airports, such as Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Shinchitose and Fukuoka airports, stressing their advanced facilities," the report said. However, such major airports are intensively utilized by civilian aviation assets. Therefore the Japanese government wants to use middle-range airports to avoid tying up the larger ones with logistical and security procedures for long periods of time.

"Under a law governing the use of specific public facilities enacted in 2004, the government can commandeer seaports and airports in the event of an emergency inside Japan," the newspaper noted. However, any ballistic missile threat from a nation such as North Korea would not fall under the definitions of that law.

"In such a case ..., even if it threatens the nation, the (Japanese) government can only make a request to use the facilities. Thus the administrators of seaports and airports could refuse to offer them for use by the U.S. forces," the Yomiuri Shimbun report said.

The newspaper also noted that because "midsize and small seaports and airports in provincial regions have fewer officials for customs, immigration control and quarantine work," the central government in Tokyo would have to draw up detailed plans to ensure they had enough manpower to discharge necessary functions when U.S. forces were using them for BMD-related activities.

"The Finance Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will consider measures to ensure that this work will continue to function smoothly during any emergency," the report said.

It also has been given the task of maintaining security.

The paper noted that Japanese government officials privately acknowledge they are making much slower progress with local authorities and even with the bureaucracies of several Tokyo ministries than they had anticipated in getting agreement on these issues.

One Japanese Foreign Ministry official told the newspaper that the government faced "the dilemma that the more people that are involved the more difficult it is to maintain secrecy."

"Concerning logistic support for the US forces, the government needs to discuss in advance with local governments, private medical institutions and transportation companies over details, such as the number of hospital beds that could be secured for injured U.S. soldiers, how much food and water will be required and means of transport for such provisions," the report said.

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