And not a moment too soon!
Posted on 02/16/2002 4:17:58 PM PST by Pokey78
AMERICA'S enemies will soon face a weapon, once confined to the Star Wars films, that can bring death at the speed of light.
The special operations AC-130 Spectre gunship, whose conventional weaponry has been used to devastating effect since the Vietnam War, is to be fitted with a laser that can shoot down missiles, punch holes in aircraft and knock out ground radar stations.
Despite the successful operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, the emergence of asymmetric terrorist warfare - attacks such as September 11 where the enemy is unseen - has led the Pentagon to identify the need for a more sophisticated and deadly weapons system.
The next generation gunship, codenamed AC-X and nicknamed 'Son of Spectre' by US defence officials, will carry all the weaponry already used on the AC-130, including twin 20mm Vulcan cannon (capable of firing 2,500 rounds per minute), 40mm Bofor cannon (100 rounds per minute) and a 105mm Howitzer. Its 21st-century addition, however, will be its biggest punch: a chemical oxygen iodine laser (Coil), capable of carrying out lethal and non-lethal attacks.
The advantage of laser weapons is that they strike at the speed of light. In the Coil, the power of a chemical reaction is converted to laser energy, and the weapon can carry on firing as long as its power source is intact.
Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary, has given the go-ahead for the next-generation AC-130, which includes full funding for the "integration of a direct-energy weapon".
The Pentagon is yet to announce when the new laser-equipped "Son of Spectre" will come into operation, but it is understood that the first upgraded version could be involved in military operations within two years.
Although lasers exist that can hit aircraft, disable optically guided missiles and destroy communications lines, the ability to vaporise enemy troops and vehicles Star Wars-style will take a few more years to develop.
The Spectre, flown by the 16th Special Operations Squadron, has a crew of 13, including two observers using television and infra-red images to direct the four gunners on to their target.
Working in pairs, normally providing close air support for special forces ground operations, Spectres can circle targets for hours, pulverising areas the size of football pitches with extraordinary precision.
The Spectre has, however, come to the end of its operational life and further upgrades have been ruled out on cost grounds.
Rob Hewson, the editor of Jane's Air Launched Weapons, said: "The laser will be the atomic weapon of the 21st century. Since the 1970s, US scientists have conducted a series of secret experiments in the Nevada desert using lasers.
"We know that they had lasers capable of causing immense damage but they needed huge power packs. This remains a problem and this is why a laser weapon can only be fitted on an air frame the size of the AC-130. But advances will be made and the power plant will shrink and one day it will dominate the battle field.
"The Americans may already have a very powerful laser weapon far more advanced than we have seen. They have been carrying out research in this field for years but it is a very secret weapons programme and we have no idea how far they have progressed."
Once the Coil and its power plant have been fully developed, the USAF hopes to fit it to a whole range of manned and unmanned aircraft, such as the Predator reconnaissance probe, which is fitted with Hellfire missiles and has been used in CIA operations in Afghanistan.
Lasers could also be used as an additional weapon system to fighters, bombers, helicopter gunships and warships but this is unlikely for a decade.
AMERICA'S enemies will soon face a weapon, once confined to the Star Wars films, that can bring death at the speed of light.
Hate to quibble with a minor point but I do believe it was Star Trek that got this weapon first, not Star Wars.
Anyway, great weapon. Keep up the great work, Rumsfeld!
And the Telegraph is privy to this information how?
Army magazine just ran a similar article.
Laser beams diverge. That is, the beam coming back would not be as intense as the one going out. The laser on your keyring diverges a lot, but even the best optics will have some divergence.
Also consider a weapon system covered in reflective material. Hard to keep clean in the field, and not very stealthy.
It seems directed energy weapons have some future, not as a final weapon making all others obsolete, but as yet another kind of weapon. Will they be the "nuke" of the century? Sounds like PR exaggeration.
Alternatively, if you detect that beam (like our laser guided weapons are capable of doing) you know there is a big fat airplane on the other end of it.
To keep the light coherent and useful, a mirror would have to be flat- perfectly so, since even the slightest imperfections in the reflective surface would scatter light, including the glass itself if the mirror is made of silvered glass, since laser light would pass through the glass and be altered according to the properties and impurities of the glass, hit the silvering, which would also alter or scatter the light, and be reflected back through glass, further altering the light. How much 'power' the beam would retain through that I don't know, but it would be diminished considerably, I would think. A concave or convex surface would be able to focus the light but for the most part it would be scattered and useless, except perhaps at the focus point. It might be hard to get the plane to fly where the focus point is...
Interesting question though. Maybe the laser would burn through the imperfections in the silvering and glass and fry everything behind it. More likely, someone in another plane would spot that big glistening mirror and take it out conventionally.
Maybe Radio Astronomer's closer to the technology than I've been, or knows someone who is. I've only taken one course and that was back when people were still giggling whenever someone mentioned lasers, much less asked about what effect mirrors have on them.
And not a moment too soon!
Or, my personal favorite counter-terrorism method: flood Berkely, California , Indonesia, south Asia and the middle east with American flags and Uncle Sam effigees which explode when lit.
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