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USAF Training Fighter Pilots in High-Energy Laser Weapons

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) recently conducted a collaborative wargame in the use of high-energy laser weapons.

The Directed Energy and Kinetic Energy – Directed Energy Utility Concept Experiment (DEKE DEUCE) allowed fighter pilots, weapon systems officers, and air battle managers to practice directed energy and kinetic energy attacks on mock missions in a series of virtual simulations.

The missions aimed to connect previous studies and analyses on an airborne high-energy laser pod with two future kinetic concepts.

According to the AFRL, dozens of scientists and engineers from its Directed Energy Directorate and Munitions Directorate underwent “extensive collaboration” over nine months in preparation for DEKE DEUCE.

DEKE DEUCE lead and wargaming principal investigator Dr. Darl Lewis said that the AFRL felt an urgent need to rapidly field and integrate next-generation directed energy and kinetic energy weapons amid adversaries’ increasing capabilities and aggressive intentions.

“This [experiment] focused on identifying capability and joint integration gaps that can be addressed by systems under consideration, as well as potential future tactics and procedures,” he stated.

Need for Rapid Solutions

Instructor Air Battle Manager Capt. Scott Seidenberger, who has participated in three DEKE DEUCE exercises, explained that more AFRL directorates and weapon systems are getting involved in the experiment year by year.

He further stated that the event highlights the need for creative, rapid solutions to evolving problems being presented by enemy forces.

“Threats are faster, more agile, and vary in number and capability,” Seidenberger said. “Leveraging directed energy, tailored munitions, and artificial intelligence will continue to be critical for the development of the solutions we need to keep our edge in the era of strategic competition.”

For AFRL Munitions Directorate official Rusty Coleman, the activity provided “a great opportunity” to present kinetic weapons concepts to warfighters.

“It allowed us to see novel employment concepts that we could not have seen otherwise,” he stressed. “The pilots virtually flying the aircraft provided feedback beyond what we could have gotten from any other venue.”

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