Israeli-U.S. Laser Downs Long-Range Missile in Test

Reuters ^ | 5-6-04

[xrp]

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Glad to see Loral Space is not involved.

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

I heard of this MTHEL a couple of years ago, It is big and bulky , they are trying to minimize the size...I don`t understand something (confusion) Since this is less expensive to develop (from what I read) than the Arrow and the U.S. Missile defense, why is this MTHEL not used to shoot down ICBM`s? Will this system be operational soon? What are the limitations and capabilities of this MTHEL system?

[P8riot]

In earlier tests the MTHEL laser had successfully eliminated 28 short-range Katyusha rockets and five artillery shells in flight as well as several "hostile objects" on the ground.

In this day and age I can see hitting a missile (which in itself is no small feat), but artillery shells!? If that is the case this is one helluva weapon.

[Centurion2000]

Anti aircraft and anti missile laser batteries. I love it :))

Star Wars here we come :))

[Redbob]

Wonder how many millions of watts were required to make that work?

And whatever happened to the old theories that lasers couldn't be used as weapons in atmosphere because of... I forget, diffraction? ionization of the air?

[jjackson]

We got the high tech and they have the low tech and the media.

If we don't cowboy up, they will win.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I'd bet someplace deep inside this weapon is the Aegis system. Clinton ruled out using Aegis as a basis for an anti-missile system. Who knows what his motives were...

[askrenr]

Start looking here:

http://www.aeronautics.ru/nws001/abl/abllinks.htm

[Flightdeck]

In earlier tests the MTHEL laser had successfully eliminated 28 short-range Katyusha rockets and five artillery shells in flight as well as four suicide bombers running pell-mell, zig-zagging towards a mock check-point.

[greasepaint]

Was it the propellant, the warhead,
or the remote control detonator,
that supposedly blew up?

[Blood of Tyrants]

That IS an amazing weapon. Just the degree of accuracy to AIM the device at a stationary object that is miles away is impressive but to hit it when it is moving at 2 to 5 times the speed of sound is amazing.

[Eagle of Liberty]

Two more good sites:

http://www.capitol.northgrum.com/programs/mthel.html

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/military/2003/4/beyond_bullets/print.phtml

[NJ_gent]

"And whatever happened to the old theories that lasers couldn't be used as weapons in atmosphere because of... I forget, diffraction? ionization of the air?"

I believe the problems were in penetrating large amounts of the atmosphere, such as hitting an ICBM in the upper atmosphere. An artillery shell or short range missile is going to stay close enough to the ground that a laser-based weapon should be able to work. The main problems that I've seen so far are the cost, size, and lack of power efficiency for the existing systems. That being said, it's a very promising battlefield defensive weapon.

[NJ_gent]

"In this day and age I can see hitting a missile (which in itself is no small feat), but artillery shells!? If that is the case this is one helluva weapon."

The defensive systems on the Aegis cruisers could probably do that on their own. The technology (much of which I'm sure is classified) is absolutely incredible. The trick is integrating all that technology into a system that could be used to fortify positions and, hopefully, one day be used on the battlefield.

[NJ_gent]

"Since this is less expensive to develop (from what I read) than the Arrow and the U.S. Missile defense, why is this MTHEL not used to shoot down ICBM`s?"

My understand was that there were inherent problems with laser weapons penetrating large amounts of atmosphere. Thus, you couldn't point it up at an ICBM cruising at or above the upper atmosphere and expect to do much of anything to it. I suppose you could hit it on the way down, but unless you can destroy the warhead itself without it going nuclear, you're not doing yourself much good. Even if you explode the fuel, if the warhead simply falls to the ground, you're in big trouble.

[biggerten]

This also won't work when visibility is reduced - fog, smoke or the like.

That's why the military favors GPS guided munitions, they're all weather.

One of the reasons Saddam lit the oilwells in the first gulf war was to interfere with the laser guided munitions - someone has to 'lase' the target, and the bomb has to see the laser.

Just be aware that these weapons do have limitations.

[NJ_gent]

"This also won't work when visibility is reduced - fog, smoke or the like."

Which brings up the question of whether, with enough added power for the laser, you could still operate effectively in light to moderate smoke or fog. I'm guessing rain, snow, or other such things would be problematic as well. Have you seen any information on attempts to boost power output to make this workable in slightly less-than-ideal situations?