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To: amorphous
I think it's more probably a facility for blinding the optics of satellites. A laser that could actually melt a satellite would need either a lot of electricity, like multiple tens of megawatts, or else big chemical tanks for supplying a gas-dynamic laser.

The electrical supply would be a large substation or a big gas turbine supplied alternator, with a large fuel tank. I don't see anything like that in the pictures.

Even the best high-power lasers are not very efficient.

5 posted on 04/01/2019 11:00:05 AM PDT by Steely Tom ([Seth Rich] == [the Democrat's John Dean])
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They are working on them.

June 23, 2018

..."China has used ocean-borne lasers to target US military pilots flying over Pacific Ocean on more than 20 occasions since the start of the year, Wall Street Journal reported. According the news daily, all the incidents occurred over or close to the East China Sea. These attacks were carried out “typically where the Chinese military or other Chinese civilians operate,” WSJ reported Thursday. The news report stated that, unlike the instances near the Horn of Africa, where the People’s Liberation Army-Navy maintains a base, the lasers seemed to be emanating from fishing boats as well as the mainland. While 20 incidents have been known to be reported, even more incidents may have happened but remained unreported by the air crews. And this time around, unlike the incidents in Africa, the directed beams of energy weren't originating from military-grade weapons in every reported incident, the newspaper noted. "US officials said they considered the latest incidents to be low-level but concerning harassment, along the lines of the incidents [US] State Department personnel experienced this year in Guangzhou, where diplomats and some families were evacuated after reports of unexplained medical symptoms." In May, the Pentagon charged Beijing with firing directed-energy weapons at US pilots near China's base in Djibouti, injuring at least two airmen, and requested that Beijing investigate the laser incidents. But the targeting by lasers suggests that at some level, the Chinese have continued their harassment of US pilots as tensions remain high between the two countries over trade issues, continuing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and Beijing’s role in the effort to curtail North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, the report stated."...

http://www.defenseworld.net/news/22759/20_Instances_of_Chinese_Laser_Attacks_on_US_Military_Pilots_Reported_This_Year

Obviously, Hitting something a few miles away at 10-30,000 feet is quite different than a satellite at 22,000 miles....

11 posted on 04/01/2019 11:30:30 AM PDT by Sa-teef
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To: Steely Tom

My thoughts about the need for power—underground generator facility or massive feed from something nearby. I would hope we would have the ability to detect a large power source when operating above ground.


13 posted on 04/01/2019 11:50:04 AM PDT by whistleduck (arpoon)
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To: Steely Tom

Yes, blinding and even damaging certain sensors, but not disabling the entire satellite.


14 posted on 04/01/2019 12:29:40 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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