Posted on 04/19/2022 8:22:54 AM PDT by Red Badger
Artist's concept of a ship-mounted laser weapon
The US Navy has shot down its first drone representing a subsonic cruise missile using an all-electric high-energy laser. At the US Army’s High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the Lockheed Martin Layered Laser Defense (LLD) weapon disabled the engine on a drone, which then parachuted to earth.
Sponsored by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) and conducted in partnership with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) and Lockheed Martin, the February 2022 test was intended not only to demonstrate the ability of laser weapons to track and take out large targets like the drone in question, but also a variety of threats, such as robotic fixed-wing aerial vehicles, quadcopters, and subsonic cruise missiles.
According to the Navy, laser weapons have a number of advantages. Using a high-resolution telescope, the system can track and help identify incoming targets and determine how much damage the laser inflicts on a target. In addition, laser weapons can be scaled back to disable sensors or dazzle hostile forces without permanently blinding them.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Did they all have a pull-start rope up until now...?
Chemical laser.......................
Ronald Reagan, pick up the house phone!
“All-electric?”
Many of the high power lasers are chemical.
Artist concept? I want the real thing. Ain’t nothin’ like it.
I still prefer to old fashioned coal fired laser.
Does anyone know what the range is and how long the laser needs to be focused on the missile to disable/destroy it? I guess these are the critical issues.
Yes, and the power output. Typical non-technical reporting on a technical issue.
I’m confused.
Was it a chemical laser run by electricity?
Don’t quote me on the, “confused” part.
5.56mm
As opposed to the steam powered laser?
likely short range for in close defense. Atmospheric scattering and absorption of the energy have been huge challenges for several decades. Its why ABL never went past development and testing. It worked, but not far enough out to be usable from a safe standoff.
My question is...Can this take out a hyper-sonic missile?
Beam dispersal.
Is the Hyper-Sonic Missile faster than the speed of light?......................
“Does anyone know what the range is and how long the laser needs to be focused on the missile to disable/destroy it? I guess these are the critical issues.”
also, how many shots can it fire in succession, and how much time between each shot?
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