The U.S. Air Force will test its first airborne combat lasers on AC-130 gunships and modified C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft by 2021. This will be a prelude to deploying smaller but powerful lasers on jet fighter aircraft such as the F-35 and F-15 and on aerial drones.

The lasers will give U.S. fighters virtually unlimited ammunition with which to destroy enemy aircraft such as jets, bombers and aerial drones. Currently, the combat effectiveness of U.S. fighters is limited by the number of air-to-air missiles or cannon ammunition they can carry.

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For the fifth generation F-35 Lightning II, that limitation means a maximum of 10 air-to-air missiles and about 200 rounds of 20 mm ammunition for its four-barreled cannon.

The lasers destined for the stealthy F-35 will generate in excess of 10 kilowatts, the current minimum for these weapons. These weapons will be capable of firing hundreds of bursts of intensely amplified light to burn through the fuselage of opposing aircraft and shoot them down.

Currently, the Air Force's developmental efforts are focused on increasing the power, precision and guidance of existing laser weapons with the hope of advancing from 10 kW to 100 kW. The first airborne tests for 100 kW airborne combat lasers are expected to take place by 2021 with probable deployment by 2023, said the Air Force.

The Air Force will first test the laser weapons on larger aircraft such as C-17s and AC-130s until miniaturization allows these powerful weapons to fire from fighter jets such as the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor and the F-35.

Ground testing of the High Energy Laser (HEL) is being conducted by the Air Force Directed Energy Directorate.

Tagslaser, U.S. Air Force, AC-130 gunship, F-35, F-15, High Energy Laser