Sci-fi R Us as lasers join our military arsenal

Laser beams, hypersonic missiles and Star Trek-like energy shields could all become part of Australia’s military arsenal.

A Boeing X-51 hypersonic missile. Picture: US Air Force

Laser beams, hypersonic missiles and Star Trek-like energy shields could all become part of Australia’s military arsenal in the next 10 years under Scott Morrison’s $270bn defence pivot.

The Department of Defence’s 2020 Force Strategy Plan has prioritised the research and development of a range of futuristic weapons in order to keep up with China and Russia.

Energy weapons — both lasers and microwave devices — will be developed over the next few years to allow the army and navy to destroy enemy targets by melting them.

The US Navy successfully tested its first solid state laser beam last May on the USS Portland by burning a drone with a beam made of pure chemical energy.

The Department of Defence hopes to fit Australian Defence Force ships and land vehicles with energy weapons powerful enough to take out battle tanks.

“A future program to develop a directed energy weapon system able to be integrated on to ADF-protected and armoured vehicles, and capable of defeating armoured vehicles up to and including main battle tanks,” the Force Strategy Plan reads. “The eventual deployment of directed energy weapons may also improve land force resilience by reducing the force’s dependence an ammunition stocks and supply lines.”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute defence analyst Malcolm Davis told The Australian laser weapons had technical issues but could be the “fastest gun in town”.

“Lasers travel at the speed of light — faster than hypersonic missiles — and could shoot down an incoming projectile, even a ­hypersonic one,” Dr Davis said.

“The heat from the laser has enough power to destroy a target; it melts it. In a Wild West sense, a laser is the fastest gun in town.

“There are still a lot of technical issues, especially on naval vessels — water can affect the laser and reduce the quality.”

The other class of energy weapons could use microwave ­energy to non-lethally incapacitate enemy targets that come too close to ADF vehicles.

“The microwave energy weapons can burn out the electronics of nearby ships. It acts like a direct shield for any vessel,” Dr Davis said. “It’s almost akin to a Star Trek force field.”

Laser beams travelling at the speed of light may be the only defence against hypersonic missiles travelling at up to 10 times the speed of sound and able to dodge projectiles. The missiles — attached to glide vehicles — will be another ADF priority to catch up with the more advanced arsenal developed by Chinese and Russian military forces.

“Hypersonic weapons can travel between six times and eight times the speed of sound, some of them can go up to 10 times the speed … that’s faster than supersonic,” Dr Davis said.

“The second thing about a hypersonic missile is that the glide vehicle can be manoeuvred, unlike a usual weapon … it can dodge attempts to shoot it down.

“Russia and China are the most advanced nations in developing hypersonic weaponry and the US is desperate to catch up.”