Energy Weapons: Not Just For Buck Rogers Any More

Strange Horizons ^ | 5 May 2003 | Gary Lai

[msdrby]

bump for later

[lilylangtree]

bump

[Imal]

Where can I get mine?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[ALOHA RONNIE]

'BUCK ROGERS of the 21st Century'

...is now reality.

[solitas]

Attacking at the speed of light (186,000 miles per hour), lasers will be nearly impossible to dodge.

186,000 miles/second.

[GatekeeperBookman]

Shucks,. I got one in ma garage already-danged thing sucks too much 'lectricity to shoot very often. The neighbors hate the flash.

[GatekeeperBookman]

Much of this was published about two years ago. The photo of the laser with two soldiers was in the article-TechCentral or perhaps a hard magazine like American Spectator. This is muchy more complete & obviously up to date.

[GatekeeperBookman]

References and Further Reading
1. The Airborne Laser Program

2. "Attack at the Speed of Light," a good article published in December 2002 issue Air Force Magazine Online about the current state of laser weapon research.

3. "Bright Future for Tactical Laser Weapons," an article about the U.S. Army's research into solid-state lasers, published in the April 2002 issue of Science & Technology Review.

4. "Beyond Bullets," an article published in Popular Mechanics about the THEL program.

5. "Dawn of the Airborne Laser," an article published in Popular Science about the ABL program.

6. U.S. Air Force Fact-Sheet on Active Denial Technology.

[strela]

Oooo ... new toy to go with my Tesla coil. I want one!

[Sir Charles]

I wonder what extraordinary precautions are being taken to keep this technology from falling into the wrong hands.

[FreedomCalls]

These anti-personnel devices fire beams of microwaves ... penetrating just underneath the skin and heating the tissue below to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, inducing severe pain in the process. ... According to the AFRL, it causes no permanent tissue damage.

I wonder what it would do to your eyeballs?

[non-anonymous]

What a headache. I don't know about all microwave wavelengths, but I believe both eyeballs and gonads can be susceptible to overheating.

[upchuck]

I understand the PRC version which is, of course, based on our version, is faster, more powerful and more accurate.

[gonzo]

"...I wonder what it would do to your eyeballs?..."

"...What a headache. I don't know about all microwave wavelengths, but I believe both eyeballs and gonads can be susceptible to overheating..."

Eyeballs at 130 F is called 'poached'!

Gonads? Well, your balls will probably try to drop to your ankles, to get away from the heat. Not a pretty sight. Yer tallywhacker blisters will put you out of commission for at least 3 months, so stay away from '2huget!ts.com' until you're all better...........FRegards

[DB]

Slow light...

[DB]

And why not just make the missiles reflective to IR?

No absorption, no breaky.

[SSN558]

I wonder what extraordinary precautions are being taken to keep this technology from falling into the wrong hands.

The same thing that kept star wars technology from falling into the wrong hands. Extraordinary cost.