Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Boeing Tests Avenger Solid State Laser Weapon
The Future of Things ^ | November 20, 2007 | Ehud Rattner & Iddo Genuth

Posted on 05/21/2008 11:00:53 PM PDT by neverdem

In late September 2007, Boeing successfully tested a 1kw solid state laser weapon mounted on a converted Avenger anti aircraft vehicle in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The laser successfully destroyed several unexploded mortar shells from a safe distance and was also able to destroy two unmanned aerial vehicles (which were on the ground). Boeing hopes to introduce the first operational laser-based weapon systems in the not too distant future, helping soldiers to fight road side bombs and to defend themselves from possible aerial threats.

In 1960, after an all-out race between scientists, Theodore Maiman developed and tested the first laser device at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. Even at its earliest stages, the first laser, which was based on a synthetic ruby crystal,, was regarded as a device with potential military applications. In 1959, Gordon Gould, one of the early pioneers of laser research, together with the Long Island Company TRG, pitched the first $300,000 research proposal to ARPA (predecessor of today's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA). Although Gould and TRG eventually received a budget of 1 million U.S. dollars (a fortune in those days), the research project did not produce many practical weapon systems. Nonetheless, over the next 5 decades the U.S. government spent millions of dollars on laser technology, with investments reaching an all-time high during the early 1980's with the peak of the Cold War and Reagan's 1983 "Star-Wars" initiative (SDI).

Lasers come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from a few millimeters (such as those inside the average CD/DVD player) to a full football stadium's-size, such as the world's largest laser in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Until recently, military lasers were big, extremely big. Actually, powerful military lasers such as Boeing's Airborne Laser (ABL), were developed in order to destroy ballistic missiles in flight from a distance of hundreds of miles, and therefore, require a fully modified Boeing 747-400F to house the laser, its electronics and more importantly, the gallons of dangerous chemicals used to fire the weapon.

However, in recent years, there is a growing hope that smaller, lighter, and safer lasers will be able to perform at least some of the tasks currently carried out by these large military chemical lasers. The new lasers are solid state and use glass or crystalline material (with some additives) to create the laser beam. For many years, lasers of this type were considered too weak to be used for many military tasks, but Boeing's recent successful experiment has proved that solid state laser-based weapons are finally suitable for military service.

The modified Avenger system works by aiming a laser beam at a roadside bomb or unexploded ammunition "and then increasing the power until the explosive fizzles out in a low yield detonation," said Gary Fitzmire, Boeing's Vice President who is in charge of the Laser Avenger Program.

In the current test, the system was only able to destroy stationery ground targets using its 1kw laser. Boeing is considering the development of an upgraded weapons' system that will have a shoot-on-the-move capability and the ability to destroy other kinds of targets, including low-flying unmanned aerial vehicles.

In late 2006, TFOT covered another step forward in the development of the ABL (airborne laser), in the framework of a project that suffered from many setbacks since it was initiated by the U.S. Air Force in 1996.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: laserweapon; solidstatelaser
Boeing laser Avenger (Credit: Boeing)


Avenger test firing its laser on a target (Credit: Boeing)
Laser Gunship Blasts Beams, Preps for '08 Flight Test

1 posted on 05/21/2008 11:00:53 PM PDT by neverdem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The History Channel last night had on a program about fighter aircraft in the next 10-20-30 years, and some of the fighters had these laser weapons on the nose of the aircraft. It was AWESOME!


2 posted on 05/21/2008 11:20:18 PM PDT by hsalaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hsalaw

I watched that also. Those “Rapters” are unbelievable.


3 posted on 05/21/2008 11:29:33 PM PDT by loboinok (Gun control is hitting what you aim at!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

presumably there will be all kinds of civilian uses for this technology. I’m thinking particularly of power storage.


4 posted on 05/21/2008 11:59:18 PM PDT by balch3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The ultimate “Zot!” ;)


5 posted on 05/22/2008 12:01:07 AM PDT by anymouse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

I hope this technology doesn’t fall into the hands of the Dark Side...


6 posted on 05/22/2008 12:12:05 AM PDT by Free Bee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Wow. Just “wow.”


7 posted on 05/22/2008 1:28:20 AM PDT by villagerjoel ("I think my brains are hanging out," he said.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: balch3

I know they’ve been working on a method to move electric power through the air, for powering things that are remote from a power source. I wonder if this could be used for that?


8 posted on 05/22/2008 2:36:24 AM PDT by Randy Papadoo (HRC/BHMO/JMc........Which pile of doggy poop will you step in?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Not bad at all for only a kilowatt.


9 posted on 05/22/2008 2:43:23 AM PDT by familyop (cbt. engr. (cbt), NG, '89-'96, Duncan Hunter or no-vote)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: familyop

If they can keep a KW on a kg of water it should take 4.2 seconds to raise it a degree C.

Hmm, I begin to see why this is an anti-static weapon, but it has possibilities.


10 posted on 05/22/2008 3:09:43 AM PDT by agere_contra
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: balch3; anymouse

I’m thinking of a microwave oven type device that actually browns your food.


11 posted on 05/22/2008 4:54:09 AM PDT by GulfBreeze (McCain is our nominee. No one else.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Randi Papadoo

‘I know they’ve been working on a method to move electric power through the air, for powering things that are remote from a power source. I wonder if this could be used for that?’

Calling Mr. Tesla, Calling Mr. Anton Tesla. Please pick up a white phone immediately.


12 posted on 05/22/2008 5:00:18 AM PDT by .44 Special (Táimid Buarch)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: .44 Special
Calling Mr. Tesla, Calling Mr. Anton Tesla. Please pick up a white phone immediately.

Is that Nikola Tesla's brother?< BG >

13 posted on 05/22/2008 11:25:53 AM PDT by Don W (To write with a broken pencil is pointless.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: .44 Special

14 posted on 05/22/2008 11:37:17 AM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the occupation media.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: PA Engineer
Geez! How many phallic symbols are in that picture? The tower, blimp, streetlight, and even the windows have testicles.

Maybe we should be paging Dr. Freud to analyze Dr. Tesla.

15 posted on 05/22/2008 12:12:02 PM PDT by HundredDollars
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson