---
title: "The Air Force Just Tested a Laser Weapon for Fighter Jets"
description: "Last month, the Air Force tested a new anti-missile laser weapon that it hopes to equip onto fighter jets by 2021. For now, it's still too big."
date: "2019-05-07"
modified: "2019-05-07"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/air-force-tested-laser-weapon-fighter-jets"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "lasers"
  - "missiles"
  - "the digest"
  - "weapons"
---

# The Air Force Just Tested a Laser Weapon for Fighter Jets

![Last month, the Air Force tested a new anti-missile laser weapon that it hopes to equip onto fighter jets by 2021. For now, it's still too big.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/air-force-tested-laser-weapon-fighter-jets.png>)
*\<em\>Image: U.S. Army/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Successful Test

A new laser weapon developed by the U.S. Air Force successfully shot down several missiles during a test run in late April.

The Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator, evocatively dubbed the "SHiELD," is expected to someday be attached to fighter jets, providing them with the means to shoot down incoming air-launched missiles, [according to *Air Force Magazine*](<http://airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/May%202019/Experimental-Laser-Weapon-Downs-Multiple-Missiles-in-Test.aspx>), which would make it the first air-to-air defensive weapon that actively [destroys missiles](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-military-giant-laser-cannon>) instead of "confusing" or misdirecting them.

## Walk Before You Fly

The prototype SHiELD that actually passed the test is a [massive system](<https://futurism.com/military-mounting-laser-weapons-tanks>) that rests on the bed of a truck, so there's a lot of work to be done before it's light enough to attach to a jet without tipping the whole thing over.

But the Air Force has an ambitious plan to get there, *[Popular Mechanics](<https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a27376996/fighter-jet-laser/>)* reports. Thanks to partnerships with arms developers Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the Air Force expects to deploy a laser weapon capable of beaming ["tens" of kilowatts](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/strongest-laser-simulate-supernova>) onto the F-15 Eagle fighter jet by 2021.

Should that happen, aerial combat may immediately change — as a functional laser would give the Air Force an advantage over most traditional air-to-air weapons.

**READ MORE:** [U.S. Fighter Jets Could Soon Be Armed With Lasers](<https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a27376996/fighter-jet-laser/>) \[*Popular Mechanics*\]

**More on laser weaponry:** *[The UK’s New “Dragonfire” Laser Weapon Is Weirdly Steampunk](<https://futurism.com/uk-laser-weapon-dragonfire-energy-flywheel>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)