Posted on 06/12/2018 10:58:24 AM PDT by Red Badger
An image drawn by a Defense Intelligence Agency employee imagining how a Soviet laser cannon might look (Credit: Edward L. Cooper / Wikimedia)
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Russia has revealed plans to build a gigantic laser cannon capable of destroying targets in space.
It is converting a telescope into a huge ‘space gun’ which will be used to zap orbital debris which poses a threat to orbiting space ships.
The ‘cannon’ is not likely to be very powerful at this stage, meaning it would have to be focused on a piece of floating junk for some time in order to vaporise it.
But it could be a vital weapon of war in a world which depends on satellites.
Researchers at a subsidiary of Roscosmos, the Russian equivalent of Nasa, want to turn a telescope at the Altai Optical-Laser Center into a cannon which will blast space junk.
The abilility to blast satellites from space would give Russia a tactical advantage over its enemies
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‘The scientists intend to use the massive soon-to-be-built telescope at the Altay Optical-Laser Center and convert it into a laser cannon,’ it wrote, according to Russian reports
‘The device is expected to be powered by a solid-state generator, though the project team has yet to choose which model to use.’
Of course, whilst Russia claims its intentions are peaceful it’s already known to have developed weapons that can disable satellites.
Earlier this year, it revealed plans for a ‘flying laser’ which could be mounted on a plane.
Satellite play a key role in warfare and also power the global communications infrastructure, so a weapon which brings down spaceships would be a powerful tool in any future conflict – including those fought in space.
However, tackling space debris is certainly a noble cause, because there’s a lot of rubbish orbiting Earth right now and a lot of it is Russian.
If nothing is done, our world will be surrounded by a vast amount of junk travelling at high speeds which poses a huge risk to any spacecraft trying to leave the planet.
A similar idea for a rubbish-blasting laser attached to the International Space Station was proposed by Japan in 2016.
Blast from the past...............
Oh no. Whatever will we do. We’re doomed.
Love threads like this...
We will build BIGGER lasers!.....................
I hope ours is 10X bigger and actually works.
Ping
I want a Tardis........................
Do they play some Moody Blues music when they shoot it?
People in Seattle would pay $50 to see it.
That I probably it. Both sites are in kazakhstan.
CC
A ground based version of SDI
Don’t care what the Russians claim this ain’t gonna work
Because laser power diminishes very quickly with distance and beam cohetence goes to hell traveling through the atmosphere
All the dreams out there are just that
And the laser ain’t easy
Now how did I know without looking that the headline came fro a British tabloid...?
I have no idea what I posted that you are responding to or why.
Utter nonsense. They have no such capability, and will never build this.
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