[dglang]

There have been several articles lately about the U.S. preparing for a major spring offensive in that area. We are waiting for better weather.

It would be important for the snow storms and blowing wind to stop to give our aircraft the ability to see what they are shooting at.

Many of our 'smart bombs' are laser guided and need a laser nearby on the ground to point out the target. It would be very hard for one of our special forces to be grounded there all alone without support at this time.

I wonder if one or more of our satellites that are tracking him could be augmmented by one that is fitted with a laser spotter at some time in the future. It seems that if we can track him from the air, we should also be able to 'SPOT' him as well.

We have lasers that are able to hit the moon from the earth, so aiming from low orbit to hit a target on earth should be possible as well.

I suspect that a targeting laser would not require more power than a satellite could provide since the targeting is a seldom used option of relatively low power. It would be easier to implement a trageting laser onboard a satellite than a pulse energy weapon which would require much greater energy.

[fqued]

very fascinating observation/speculation.

The question I would have concerns the dissipation over 175-400 miles of the laser beam and the "pinpoint" necessary for targetting.

although a laser is a synchronized beam, it does dissipate over distance, and the "pinpoint" becomes broader.

From a satellite to earth would probably be between 175 and 350 miles depending on the orbit--is that distance too far for target pinpointing?