Applications of Lasers for Tactical Military Operations

Laser technology has observed a great advancement over the last few decades. This technology is used for a wide range of applications including medical sciences, military, industrial manufacturing, electronics, holography, spectroscopy, astronomy and much more. Military operations often demand a secure and timely transmission of a massive amount of information from one place to another. Until now, the military has relied on the radio spectrum for effective communication, which is vulnerable to security threats and susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI). Also, this spectrum is hard-pressed to meet the current bandwidth requirement for high-resolution images, on-air video conferencing and real-time data transfer. Therefore, the focus has shifted to visible and infrared spectrum using laser technology which is capable of providing secure data transfer because of its immunity to EMI. The probability of intercepting a laser signal is very low due to its narrow beam divergence and coherent optical beam, making the laser a suitable candidate for secure military tactical operations. Besides the communication aspect, the highly directive nature of a laser beam is also used as a directed energy laser weapon. These highly powerful and light weighted directed energy laser weapons are very cost-effective countermeasures for airborne threats. Furthermore, laser sensors are deployed in the battlefield or in space for tracking the path of a wide range of military vehicles like missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, fighter aircraft, warships, submarines, and so on. Advancements in space operations and laser technology have offered synergistic possibilities of using lasers from space-based platforms during military operations. In this paper, we are providing our readers with a comprehensive study of laser applications, used by the military, to carry out tactical operations on the ground or space-based platforms. Also, an intensive investigation on the development of laser technology for sensors, range-finders and target designators that are used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is presented in the paper. The advancement of laser communication for military purposes and its current state of the art is reviewed as well as some recent scientific developments in the area of high-energy directed laser weapons are discussed, which have revolutionized military battlefields. Therefore, this manuscript highlights recent trends and engineering breakthroughs for the use of lasers in tactical operations.