Posted on 02/06/2009 9:16:28 PM PST by Jeff Head
I expect we will see them tested at sea in plenty of time for installation on the new first of class, which is already building.
We can only hope and pray that the Obamanation does not cancel or otherwise curtail this effort.
FYI...continuing progress on Reagan’s star wars technology dream...reality coming to fruition despite all the liberal nay-saying.
Thanks for the ping!
Bullets can fly through fog.
I wonder what poor sap will have the distinction of being the first to die from a directed energy weapon?
Impressive. Our military weapons think tanks have produced some wonderful toys. The ones we DON’T know about must be truly impressive.
These weapon systems are powerful enough to be able to penetrate fog, rain, etc, at the close in ranges they are intended to operate at.
I wonder if a line of these things could protect Israeli towns from Gaza launched mortars and missiles?
What is not being discussed too much outside of the research and development areas are the directed energy weapons, ie a p[article beam, which are being developed. They require massive amounts of electricity, but the new carriers will have massive amounts available to them for potential close in systems of that type.
Particle beams are not impacted by cloud cover, and other atmospheric conditions to the extent lasers are...but they still "bloom" over range.
The same electronics will guide these, and the lasers will be strong enough to destroy the targets...and in fact are already proving in testing that they can.
The developers almost have to be getting close to at least a prototype. I wasn't aware research had been going on for so long; AN ARTICLE FROM 1984(oddly enough).
THEL, then LADS, now CIWS. Same system with maturation?
Depending on the wavelength of the light, it can be really hard to get a monochromatic laser beam to penetrate fog. Fog is excellent at dispersing 1550 nm radiation because the water droplet diameter is about the same diameter as the light wavelength. Laser can go through rain pretty well because the droplets are so huge compared. 10,000 nm radiation does a lot better through fog.
Civilian here,
But it’s pretty obvious you can put a *lot* of power generation for a laser, on board a ship.
It’s not like a plane, a truck or any other small platform.
Might even IMHO make sense to build ships entirely dedicated to a single massive laser. Have a couple sail along with a fleet...
“I wonder if a line of these things could protect Israeli towns from Gaza launched mortars and missiles?”
Yes, but given Israel’s nasty habit of transferring US weapons tech to the Chinese, I don’t think that we want to do that.
The last laser weapon we gave them, they gave the Chinese full access to it.
I’m assuming the army’s laser centurian is chemical based. Would the be cross-tech’able (for lack of a better non-word) to a solid state system that feeds off straight juice from a nuclear reactor?
Obama will probably cancel this program, or only allow it to be a back burner R&D project with very limited funds.
Sweet.......:o)
Thanks for the info Jeff !
Hope you and yours are well, Stay safe !
Nope...they say it will be solid state. I can understand that for the Navy version...but wonder where the Army one will get its power from.
You are welcome my friend. Things up here are fine for the time being...hope the same is true with you and yours down yonder.
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