Posted on 01/21/2010 8:36:15 PM PST by ColdOne
The ray gun is real ... or at least it will be soon.
The U.S. Army is betting big on laser warfare -- designing, testing and perfecting ultra-precise weapons based on devastatingly powerful beams of light. And given recent developments, it's only a matter of time until the military has in its arsenal a weapon that until now has been the staple of science fiction -- the ray gun.
Set your phasers to kill.
Boeing, one of the Pentagon's top contractors, already has a laser weapon that will improve the military's ability to counter artillery, mortar, drone aircraft and even rockets, a spokesman tells FoxNews.com.
Boeing's is the highest-profile program of all of the projects under development for the Department of Defense, and last week it took a step closer to reality. At its facility in Huntsville, Ala., Boeing accepted a military truck built by Oshkosh Defense that will carry its laser beam control system into battle.
A military scientist operates a laser in a test environment. The Directorate conducts research on a variety of solid-state and chemical lasers.
related links Japan to Beam Solar Power from Space on Lasers Israeli Robots Remake Battlefield U.S. Air Force Confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' Secret Stealth Drone Plane Military Links Drones into Unmanned Squadrons The device is the cornerstone of a high-priority U.S. Army project, called the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL-TD
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
So the new question becomes do we let the military have this and the civillians, no?
Ping!
So the new question becomes do we let the military have this and the civillians, no?
That being said, I am a little skeptical of how “destructive” it is, vs. conventional munitions. Lets see.
That’s not really an answer to the question. The question is will they be outlawed for use by regular law abiding citizens or not. It’s not about cost. Cost already determines what kind of weapon many people can or cannot get. Doesn’t matter what it costs if the govt says you can’t legally have it.
They could have at least made it LOOK cool .... like an OGRE tank
First to say “Set your bebers to stune.”
Kill or stun? First asked by caveman privates when holding their rocks.
It’s a laser. Of course it will destroy anything carrying explosives or fuel or computer circuitry.
Probably not too effective against DU or lead projectiles though.
Heli-kewl
In a word yes. Just as surely as civilians can’t have a Stinger or two in the garage.
They did not say "the right to bear FIREARMS shall not be infringed", no.
They said, "The right to bear ARMS shall not be infringed"
It's like THEY FORESAW THIS......just amazing....!!!!!
I went and read the full article, I thought they were discussing rifle-sized units, not ones large enough to mount on vehicles and such.
Because right now you could build your own. the cost/ease to build ratio is way too high compared with conventional firearms for just about everyone.
I'm on one side of a hill with a mortar, and the other guy is on the other side of the hill with a raygun... Who doya think's gonna win that??
Ah, gotcha. I assumed from the start it was anti-armor/anti-air.
Well it did work against Devastator in Transformers Revenge of the Fallen so it must really work then.
Hammer’s Slammers...
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