WEAPONS OF THE WORLD: American Laser Weapon Research Accelerates -- Buck Rogers by 2012!

StategyPage.com ^ | 6/11/04 | Doug Mohney

[Murcielago]

I'm still waiting to see how effective the ABL is before I like the "Laser idea"

It seems to me that all an enemy would have to do is make their missiles with a mirror finish and the lasers would just reflect right off of them.

In the nose of the ABL is a big thick mirror and it turns to point the laser in the right dirrection. that alone tells you that all it takes to counter this threat is a mirror.

[Travis McGee]

Beats me.

[tortoise]

It seems to me that all an enemy would have to do is make their missiles with a mirror finish and the lasers would just reflect right off of them.

Not at the power levels we are talking about. Any reflective finish would ablate almost instantly. For example, in reality you would be lucky to get a finish that is uniformly 90% reflective, which is about as reflective as polished chrome. Unfortunately, the 10% that gets through is plenty of power to eat that finish, quickly followed by the missile behind it.

The beam steering mechanisms used for these high power lasers are pretty exotic and use some very fancy fabrication and engineering technology. In fact, building a big laser is relatively easy, most of the really sophisticated tech is in managing and steering the beam. It is not something you could just slap onto a missile, because it involves a lot of active components and exotic materials. Making a missile impervious to a high power laser would be ridiculously expensive and nearly impossible to implement in practice.

The guys who built these weapon systems are well aware of the kinds of countermeasures someone might try when they did the specs. If you can think of a legitimate countermeasure, you can rest assured that the weapon engineers have already studied it and took it into account.

Remember all the handwringing in the media about how stupid the US military was for using "GPS guided bombs" that could be "easily jammed"? The engineers had anticipated this long before it occurred to the idiots in the media. Those bombs actually used high-precision inertial guidance (unjammable), and used jam resistant GPS corrections to improve accuracy. Even if the enemy managed to completely obliterate the US military GPS system, those bombs would still function in inertial guidance mode which is plenty accurate to ruin a bad guy's day. The difference would be the difference between dropping the bomb in a guys bathroom and dropping it in his house. Even if you successfully eliminated the GPS component, you wouldn't want to hang around while the bombs were falling. All you've done is move the variance in the point of impact a half dozen meters -- way to close for comfort with a 2,000 pound bomb. The Russians probably laughed all the way to the bank when they sold those "GPS jammers" to the Iraqis.

So rest assured that, as always, American weapon designers are the finest in the world and know a thing or two about defeating countermeasures.

[Paul Ross]

Actually, the laser is not just a flash-light. It is a real threat to the fragile systems such as cruise and ballistic missiles...which are actually quite difficult to harden, as indicated by Tortoise. In a fielded weapon system, the affordable shells and missiles cannot begin to counter directed energy attacks at the levels we can now routinely bring to bear using the CO2 and garnet lasers. Check out the tactical success rate 45 intercepts out of 45 attempts....and not just against missiles, we have successfully intercpted mortar rounds and howitzer rounds that are incoming at supersonic speeds. And those are pretty 'hardened' targets already....

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Light Speed]

Yes, optical obscurants will have some application. But their are many situations where they are not practical. And if the laser is targeted by radar, or some other method, the laser would be able to burn-through in some cases.

Windows in the electromagnetic spectrum in warfare..Power point article 1999.
Space/Air to Underwater Communications•

Application– Satellite/aircraft to submarine communications via blue/green laser– Moderate data rate– One of only two electromagnetic windowsLasers used– Frequ ncy shifted Nd:YAG blue/green lasers– Excimer blue lasers (R man shifted light)• Problems– Flashlamp lifetimes– Non-optimum colors– Receiver design for signal-to-noise ratio– Lead-based frequency shifters– Non-cooperative platforms• Status– 15-year-old program– DARPA-sponsored– Congressional mandate– R&D into laser sources (doubled Ti:sapphire, LiAsF)

Space Communications•

Application– High data rate, low probability of intercept– Satellite-to-satellite data relay – Uplinks and downlinks• Lasers used– Frequency-doubled Nd:YAG, CO2• Problems– Space-qualified lasers– Laser lifetime (flash tubes, diode pumping)– Cost– Pointing and tracking difficult• Status– Studied for 15 years, still in R&D– New laser sources: diode-pumped lasers

Undersea Surveillance•

Application– Use of blue-green lasers for shallow-water ASW and minehunting• Lasers used– Frequency-doubled Nd:YAG– Pulsed dye– Frequency-shifted excimer lasers• Problems– Severe attenuation and back-scatter– Depth is function of geographical location– Source of illumination is revealed• Status– Studied for 15 years– Minehunting being implemented

Ground-Based Laser Radar•

Application– Anti-air defense– Supplement radars in CM environment– Greater accuracy than radar• Lasers used– Nd:YAG, CO2• Problems– Lack of all-weather capability• Status– Army & Navy have built demonstration units.

Airborne Doppler Laser Radar•

Application– Moving target indicator (MTI) for airborne and surface vehicles– High accuracy– Useful for wind sensing, target acquisition/ ID/ tracking.• Lasers used– CO2 (frequency stability; heterodyne detection)• Problems – Large size– Optical/ electronic complexity– Degraded by obscurants.• Status– 15 years of study– R&D.

Laser Ranging Imaging Systems•

Application:– Use a scanning pulsed laser rangefinder to build up high resolution 3-d profile and image– Use for target acquisition, id, and tracking• Advantages– High resolution– LPI and antijam• Lasers used: – GaAs• Problems– Need more powerful, eye-safe pulsed lasers• Status– R&D into laser sources– Demonstration of systems concepts.

[Light Speed]

THEL
Type : Deuterium fluoride (DF), chemical laser.
Wavelength : 2 mm
Power : Less powerful than MIRACL
Fuel supply : up to 60 shots
Fuel cost : $3,000 per kill
Range : 5 km
Optics : High-power un-cooled optics control system : C3I and radar (THEL radar was developed by Israel)

Comment:

Israel has achieved a marked - aquire/calculate/response increase in its Arrow 2 intercept system.
Response up from 3 minutes..to 7 on over the horizon intercept.

Many breakthroughs in Computer chips were achieved in Israel via INTEL's programs there.

Israel has been using Laser technology since the 80's in their Micro boost Nuclear program.

[AdamSelene235]

Is it possible to build a truly portable laser suitable for self-defense with current technology?

A handheld blinding weapon is no problem.

[AdamSelene235]

Put together a 10kw CO2 or N2 Gas laser, use large (shotgun shell sized) capacitors for the energy source and a diffusing lens for expanded coverage.

Neither of these will reach the retina...Doubled Nd:YAG 1064->532nm is near the peak of human vision and will dazzle if not destroy the retina....

[AdamSelene235]

The beam steering mechanisms used for these high power lasers are pretty exotic and use some very fancy fabrication and engineering technology. In fact, building a big laser is relatively easy, most of the really sophisticated tech is in managing and steering the beam.

Compensating for atmospheric lensing and refractive turbulence is no walk in the park either. Happily there is a great deal of prior technology relating to atmospheric correction for ground based telescopes. Of course, those didn't have megawatts of light flowing through their field of view.

[KC_for_Freedom]

You might have to reconsider, depending on how long you have to dwell on a missile for the heat build up that "kills" it.

Remember that the laser missile defense depends on high altitude to reduce atmospheric losses, and that the only thing current lasers do is heat the target. How long to damage the heat shield enough so it burns up on re-entry? Remember heat shields are already designed to take heat. That is why the laser missile defense is a "boost phase" weapon. The boost phase has lots of stuff that is not heat protected like a warhead.

I am not saying don't get your hopes up, but give yourself lots of time, these weapons don't "disintegrate" like phasors in Star Trek, nor do they disrupt electronics, they only heat.

[Centurion2000]

Neither of these will reach the retina...Doubled Nd:YAG 1064->532nm is near the peak of human vision and will dazzle if not destroy the retina....

Thanks for the correction. I knew that CO2 was IR and N2 was UV .... has neodymium yttrium crystal prices dropped for a lasing rod ?

[Brilliant]

They've got a long way to go. But the laser or partical beam is a much more promising approach to missile defense than missile intercepts. As pointed out by a lot of people, to defeat the missile intercept, you only need to increase the number of attacking missiles.

[AdamSelene235]

Thanks for the correction. I knew that CO2 was IR and N2 was UV .... has neodymium yttrium crystal prices dropped for a lasing rod ?

You can buy a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG tank designator about half the size of your fist on Ebay for about $200. I think they put out about 50 mJ. I had an intern who built one into child's toy laser pistol.

[AdamSelene235]

Thanks for the correction.

Oh, both will certainly damage the eye if they are sufficiently powerful, however, I'd prefer to have something that takes out or at least dazzles the retina. I suppose you could argue green light is nonoptimal for masses of troops as a near IR reaches the retina and would not be perceived until it is too late....However, I think for one on one, I'd like to have a Q-switched burst of green on the front end of my Glock

[KC_for_Freedom]

True, and that is why the missile part of the anti missile system is designated as only applying to rogue nations who would launch a few missiles. The defense mechanism that is being developed is one of layers, THAAD is the outer layer, and can defend over a wide area. PAC-3 is a smaller layer inside of the THAAD. And the airborn laser is designed to be operating in the enemies back yard as I said before fighting in the boost phase.