When I began writing the novel, “High Ground,” many years ago I had a problem. My subject may have been universal (small town hatred and second chances), but my backstory was, well, too far out there for most people. That some company would be developing laser weapons for military jets, designed to shoot down orbiting satellites. C’mon, really?
Well, the future is no longer “out there.” Consider this article from the March 2018 edition of Air & Space Smithsonian.
Lasers for smaller fighter aircraft may still be in the pipeline, but they have already been developed for larger aircraft and the Air Force will begin tests of a system on the KC-135 tanker this summer. Tests with smaller fighter jets may begin tests by 2021.
The challenge is getting the weapon small enough and energy-efficient enough to mount on faster, high-flying jets like “High Ground’s” fictional modified F-15.
I’ll address how the backstory became so important to my storyline in my next post, but to read several free sample chapters of the novel, click on the link below.
Read Free Sample Chapters of “High Ground”
Richard Authier Lee 