Posted on 04/06/2006 9:52:30 AM PDT by neverdem
Problem: How to protect the United States, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, NATO other friends and allies, and U.S. military bases all around the world, from ballistic missiles of different ranges, warheads and capabilities, including the multiple warhead type now claimed by Iran? Solution: The Airborne Laser (ABL).
It is the promise of a mobile worldwide defense against a variety of threats that makes development of the ABL important. The Missile Defense Agency has been working on this system for nine years and in 2008 will reach the culmination of that effort with an attempt to shoot down a ballistic missile from an airborne platform.
That platform is a Boeing 747 loaded with lasers that will find a ballistic missile, focus on it, track it through the clouds, and then zap it with a high-powered beam to heat and destroy it in the boost phase, before it can release any warheads and decoys. The whole sequence of events takes just seconds, then the lasers turn to the next target.
The advantages are many. A pair of 747s can fly in a few hours to any trouble spot on Earth, giving this defense mobility and flexibility. The lasers operate with the speed of light, enabling the ABL to destroy multiple missiles with multiple warheads as fast as they can be launched.
The ABL will be a quantum leap in military technology, making science fiction-like beam weapons a reality. The ABL also could use its lasers against enemy aircraft, disabling or destroying them while defending itself. A number of other missions are possible, and some will be tested if the 2008 shoot-down succeeds. But the primary mission is to add a new boost-phase capability to a worldwide missile defense.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
"Star Wars", the sequel?
well, with the new chemical lasers, it might actually be feasible this time around
Continental force fields is the way to go. Be wary of tunnels coming through the planet to strike at the soft underbelly of North America.
The 747 is one big target. How about a SR-71?
dude... it ain't "beer-thirty" here yet!
Also needed: "Lasers" on sharks!
imo
Not quite unproven:
http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/all.htm
It was a little touchy but it did work.
RnC
First we would need an extensive fleet of these things to maintain 24/7 coverage.
We would need at least two squadrons one for the ME and the other for North Korea, thats if we just ignore Russia and China.
IMHO, we need to be looking more at space based platforms, expensive to get up there but once in place give us significant years of hover time over a much larger area.
Anything that would fit into a 747 could be assembled, post deployment, to a space based platform. Flying plains around 24/7 just takes us back to the SAC days of the 60s.
"Flying plains around 24/7 just takes us back to the SAC days of the 60s"
Those were very effective days. I haven't noticed any radioactive cities around here.
"You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?"
Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong.
But some folks disagree with you.
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/pdf/05fyi0070.pdf
As a former pilot of the ALL, I can tell you it was an exciting takeoff on a hot summer day with a full load! But it did work.
OK, say push came to shove. What about the logistics of a space based system already engaged, if they had not been already attacked and destroyed by anti-satellite weapons?
Sorry, but SBL's are no cheaper. It takes a constellation of them for continuous coverage of a theater, or putting incredibly large and expensive systems out at GEO. This is not to say SBL's are not worth doing. But they are not good at "hovering over a spot".
ABL's do not have to be everywhere all the time. They can be deployed when trouble errupts.
As a matter of fact, atmospheric attenuation does not preclude the ABL working.
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