Posted on 12/15/2021 11:32:42 AM PST by BenLurkin
The US Navy successfully tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in the Gulf of Aden — indicating the system could be deployed to target drone boats used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to a new report.
The USS Portland fired the Laser Weapon System Demonstrator on Tuesday in the waterway that separates the Arabian peninsula from Africa, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in the Middle East, said the laser “successfully engaged” the target.
In May 2020, the USS Portland used a laser to down a drone.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Maybe they can fry some peeking duck.
I used to teach in Jamaica many moons ago, and the students would begin practically every sentence with a reference to Yemen (e.g., “Yemen, da sun is bright today fo sure”).
Once during one of my more impish phases, I took some time out of my business lecture to provide basic information to the class on Yemen, so that they would know what they were talking about. They probably still swap stories about the crazy American who thought they were talkin’ ‘bout Yemen when they said Yemen.
The Navy killed the railgun program, unfortunately.
They’ll be installing them on the next Ford Class Aircraft carrier.
https://www.thefordclass.com/cvn-80/
Woman, ja macian me crazy.
Not a very long range surface weapon, is it? Unless we figured out how to bend lasers...
I’d like to see it scaled up to where it cam intercept hypersonic cruise missiles.
If such a thing is even possible.
Less effective that a 5 inch 38 gun, and shorter range, and a million times the price.
The Navy has turned into a sad joke from the truly formidable force it once was.
But, but, the Popular Mechanix crowd was saying railguns and particle beam weapons were already deployed several years ago.
Does this mean they were wrong? Or just FOS?
That is the ticket, try to heat up something already white hot........
The Navy killed the railgun program, unfortunately.
—
The materials science is not up to the task. Maybe in the coming decades new materials will become available negating the replacement of the barrels after a handful of shots. Also rail guns are limited to line of sight, while most new weapons systems are over-the-horizon and beyond visual range (BVR).
Lasers are need to counter swarms of drone aircraft and boats. Guns simply cannot fire fast enough, or at multiple target simultaneously.
With all this talk of Hypersonic missiles I’ve wonder if a type of laser could potentially defeat any incoming missile, even at mach 5-8 it’s still not faster than a laser beam...
I know it sounds like something out of Star Trek but why not, we know lasers exist, the military has been working on them for years, IMO, it could happen that hypersonic weapons become obsolete before they are widely deployed...
Are you sure they weren't saying Jah Man? :)
That’s because the projectiles cost more than a missile does.
Until the costs come down, the Navy can’t afford it.
Were any sharks harmed during the making of this demonstration?
News flash : the F-35 has to get through the air superiority screen and the out bound missile swarms first. Russian and China are not 3rd world countries where that strategy can work.
Multiple targets = 4 each, unless they give up their limited frontal stealth, which all modern radars can now see.
Somali pirates, beware!
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