Maritime Laser System Shows Higher Lethality At Longer Ranges

Space Daily.com via SPX ^ | 10/01/2010 | Space Daily.com via SPX

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Tests of the U.S. Navy's Maritime Laser Demonstration (MLD) system conducted recently at the Potomac River Test Range confirmed the laser weapon system's readiness to proceed with at-sea testing later this year, according to Northrop Grumman Corporation. Operating from a fixed site on land, the MLD weapon system fired a laser beam at a number of stationary targets, including representative small boat sections, across the Potomac River, company executives said. The laser burned through small boat sections in these tests, conducted in late August and early September.

"We have shown that the Maritime Laser Demonstrator's design is as lethal at longer ranges as other previously demonstrated approaches," said Steve Hixson, vice president of Advanced Concepts, Space and Directed Energy Systems for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

"We have optimized the Maritime Laser Demonstrator's design to make it much more lethal at longer ranges while using less laser power than other approaches.

"This means we can defeat threats at longer ranges using less electric power from a ship and with a smaller, more affordable weapon," Hixson noted.

"This successful test series, coupled with the successful shore tracking tests earlier this year, give us confidence that we will be successful at the at sea demonstrator scheduled later this year."

[Jeff Chandler]

Lazer

[SIDENET]

YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT.

[Talisker]

Maritime Laser System Shows Higher Lethality At Longer Ranges

The Navy must be practicing crossing the streams.

[Riley]

Operating from a fixed site on land, the MLD weapon system fired a laser beam at a number of stationary targets, including representative small boat sections, across the Potomac River, company executives said. The laser burned through small boat sections in these tests, conducted in late August and early September.

Glad I wasn't sailing out there that day. :-)

What's to stop someone from deploying a low-tech smokescreen to counter this?

[dfwgator]

[willyd]

Or a low tech mirror?

[Grut]

Or a slightly higher-tech mirror; a corner cube reflector.

[Laserman]

You cannot cover a threat with corner cubes. Mirrored surfaces are hard to keep that way.

[Elderberry]

Longer range? Ha!

Lets see one defeat a target over the horizon.

[B4Ranch]

Yer a wise guy. Someday somebody is going to invent a laser that’s gravity susceptible.

[Mr Inviso]

“Longer range? Ha!

Lets see one defeat a target over the horizon.”

From what the article says, this sounds like something to be used on close-in threats, like those Iranian speedboats and such, and perhaps as a terminal point-defense against things like missiles or small aircraft.

I wonder what the achievable rate of fire is? If they can get this thing firing FAST it’d make those new supposed aircraft-carrier killer missiles obsolete even before they are deployed in numbers.

[Mr Inviso]

Ya know what this might work really great for?

Those crappy boats over there by Somalia and the pirates that ride in them. Being a laser and all that, it doesn’t kick, so it wouldn’t require a reinforced platform like a gun turret. You could put this kinda thing on a merchie just the same as a Navy ship. You don’t need a whole bunch of range for that kind of threat, 2-5 miles max would be more than adequate.

[Grut]

You cannot cover a threat with corner cubes. Mirrored surfaces are hard to keep that way.

Seal the reflector inside a burn-away nose cone and attack the target head on. The target has no choice but to engage the missile thru the reflector. Not all attacking missiles would need to be so equipped.

[MediaMole]

As long as the beam isn’t in the visible spectrum, you could fry the pirates’ boats without much evidence of where the beam came from.

“Oops, the pirate boat caught fire and sank. Wonder how that happened?”