The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a contract to develop the lightweight demonstrator laser weapon system for the agency’s High Energy Liquid Laser Defense System program. “GA-ASI pioneered a new concept for electrically pumped, high-energy lasers, and under DARPA sponsorship, this technology has developed into a promising new weapon,” said Michael Perry, who oversees GA-ASI’s reconnaissance systems, in the company’s release. Under the contract, which covers phase four of HELLADS development, GA-ASI will produce the 150-kilowatt demonstrator—weighing less than 2,000 pounds—and have it available for ground testing “against a variety of military targets” at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in 2013. HELLADS is envisioned as a laser defensive system light enough for use on tactical aircraft, including remotely piloted aircraft. There are plans for its eventual integration with a B-1B bomber for aerial testing.
The U.S. Air Force began deportation flights of people held in detention by Customs and Border Protection, U.S. officials said Jan. 24. One C-17 took off from Biggs Army Air Field, Texas, and another C-17 took off from Tucson, Arizona, a defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The…