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America's laser of death cleared for take-off
The Sunday Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 02/17/2002 | Sean Rayment

Posted on 02/16/2002 4:17:58 PM PST by Pokey78

AMERICA'S enemies will soon face a weapon, once confined to the Star Wars films, that can bring death at the speed of light.

The special operations AC-130 Spectre gunship, whose conventional weaponry has been used to devastating effect since the Vietnam War, is to be fitted with a laser that can shoot down missiles, punch holes in aircraft and knock out ground radar stations.

Despite the successful operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, the emergence of asymmetric terrorist warfare - attacks such as September 11 where the enemy is unseen - has led the Pentagon to identify the need for a more sophisticated and deadly weapons system.

The next generation gunship, codenamed AC-X and nicknamed 'Son of Spectre' by US defence officials, will carry all the weaponry already used on the AC-130, including twin 20mm Vulcan cannon (capable of firing 2,500 rounds per minute), 40mm Bofor cannon (100 rounds per minute) and a 105mm Howitzer. Its 21st-century addition, however, will be its biggest punch: a chemical oxygen iodine laser (Coil), capable of carrying out lethal and non-lethal attacks.

The advantage of laser weapons is that they strike at the speed of light. In the Coil, the power of a chemical reaction is converted to laser energy, and the weapon can carry on firing as long as its power source is intact.

Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary, has given the go-ahead for the next-generation AC-130, which includes full funding for the "integration of a direct-energy weapon".

The Pentagon is yet to announce when the new laser-equipped "Son of Spectre" will come into operation, but it is understood that the first upgraded version could be involved in military operations within two years.

Although lasers exist that can hit aircraft, disable optically guided missiles and destroy communications lines, the ability to vaporise enemy troops and vehicles Star Wars-style will take a few more years to develop.

The Spectre, flown by the 16th Special Operations Squadron, has a crew of 13, including two observers using television and infra-red images to direct the four gunners on to their target.

Working in pairs, normally providing close air support for special forces ground operations, Spectres can circle targets for hours, pulverising areas the size of football pitches with extraordinary precision.

The Spectre has, however, come to the end of its operational life and further upgrades have been ruled out on cost grounds.

Rob Hewson, the editor of Jane's Air Launched Weapons, said: "The laser will be the atomic weapon of the 21st century. Since the 1970s, US scientists have conducted a series of secret experiments in the Nevada desert using lasers.

"We know that they had lasers capable of causing immense damage but they needed huge power packs. This remains a problem and this is why a laser weapon can only be fitted on an air frame the size of the AC-130. But advances will be made and the power plant will shrink and one day it will dominate the battle field.

"The Americans may already have a very powerful laser weapon far more advanced than we have seen. They have been carrying out research in this field for years but it is a very secret weapons programme and we have no idea how far they have progressed."

Once the Coil and its power plant have been fully developed, the USAF hopes to fit it to a whole range of manned and unmanned aircraft, such as the Predator reconnaissance probe, which is fitted with Hellfire missiles and has been used in CIA operations in Afghanistan.

Lasers could also be used as an additional weapon system to fighters, bombers, helicopter gunships and warships but this is unlikely for a decade.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: miltech
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To: Dec31,1999
Someone on another thread was just commenting on the Patriot act and it's constitutional aspects. Might I suggest that if anyone get's elected in 2004 we should be very worried.
21 posted on 02/16/2002 4:54:33 PM PST by DoughtyOne
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Comment #22 Removed by Moderator

To: Pokey78
I love it...
"Set it, and forget it..."
23 posted on 02/16/2002 4:58:14 PM PST by unamused
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To: Pokey78
a death star!
24 posted on 02/16/2002 4:59:08 PM PST by green team 1999
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To: one_particular_harbour
hah! Beat ya!

Yeah, but you didn't flag me. Are you the last Freeper not using my list?

Hey, OPH... just after 9/11, Drudge carried a link... "America's Superweapons," and this laser plane was featured, along with a lot of other cool gadgets... like cybernetic "Land Warior" armor and laser-guided mortar guns... the mortars were satellite linked and programmable in battle, so that infantry on the move could hit targets on the other sides of hills... there was a second barrel on the gun that shot standard NATO 5.56 rounds.

But about this plane... Or perhaps it was another one... The article claimed that it could fly at altitude and vaporize a single human target in a crowd from 180 miles! Said we were building two of them.

I bookmarked the link, but it busted within days. Too much classified material, is my guess.




25 posted on 02/16/2002 5:00:07 PM PST by Sabertooth
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To: Pokey78
in 91 the republican guard pooped in their pants over smart bombs could you imagine the fear they will be in when we start shooting lasers at them
26 posted on 02/16/2002 5:00:47 PM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant
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To: Pokey78
"Mr. Worf...fire!"
27 posted on 02/16/2002 5:05:09 PM PST by counterrevolutionary
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Comment #28 Removed by Moderator

To: green team 1999
The death star was make believe, this isn't.
29 posted on 02/16/2002 5:08:37 PM PST by webcrosby
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
"And the Telegraph is privy to this infomation how?"

My guess is that they are either reading Astounding Science Fiction ... or Aviation Week and Space Technology.
30 posted on 02/16/2002 5:09:44 PM PST by VietVet
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To: Jewels1091
..."Makes me wonder....what on earth is in the barn???"

The Chinese already know "what's in the barn."

Compliments of Bill Clinton.

31 posted on 02/16/2002 5:12:41 PM PST by Cobra64
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To: Pokey78
I know a guy whose job is to help develop new laser systems. He's kinda disturbed by it since he's a pacifist.
32 posted on 02/16/2002 5:14:14 PM PST by Bogey78O
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To: VietVet

FACT SHEET


Department Of The Air Force Seal

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

Air Force Research Laboratory

Office of Public Affairs
3550 Aberdeen Avenue S.E., Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5776
(505) 846-1911; Fax (505) 846-0423
INTERNET: http://de.afrl.af.mil

CHEMICAL OXYGEN-IODINE LASER (COIL)

CHEMICAL OXYGEN-IODINE LASER (COIL)

Click on picture to enlarge (317k)

The chemical oxygen-iodine laser, or COIL, is the world’s shortest wavelength, high-power chemical laser.

Operating on an atomic iodine laser transition, COIL emits light with a wavelength of 1.315 micrometers.

An excited state of molecular oxygen, O2(1D ), is generated by the chemical reaction between chlorine gas and an aqueous mixture of hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide (basic hydrogen peroxide). The byproducts of this reaction include salt (potassium chloride) and heat. Water vapor in the gas flow is removed because it interferes with the laser gas kinetics. Molecular iodine is then injected and mixed with the gas flow, and some of the energy in the oxygen is used to dissociate the iodine. Resonant energy transfer from the excited oxygen to the atomic iodine excites the iodine, and the gas flow is accelerated to a supersonic velocity in an expansion nozzle to create the laser gain region. Light is extracted with a laser cavity positioned transverse to the gas flow, and the exhaust gases are scrubbed to remove the residual chlorine and iodine.

COIL was invented in 1977 at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, which became part of the Phillips Laboratory and then Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, in 1990 and 1997, respectively. The Air Force continues to develop COIL technology using two test stands at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate: a 10 kilowatt-class device called RADICL (Research and Development Iodine Chemical Laser) and the one-kilowatt device called VertiCOIL. A third test stand, a 40 kilowatt-class device called RotoCOIL can be reactivated for high-power testing.

Several key breakthroughs by Air Force scientists, engineers, and their contractors have resulted in efficient, scalable, and reliable laser technology for use in various applications. Significant "firsts" achieved under the Air Force Weapons Laboratory and Phillips Laboratory COIL development program are as follows:

DATE EVENT
1977 Invention of COIL
1982 Demonstration of world’s highest power subsonic gas flow COIL
1984 Demonstration of the first supersonic gas flow COIL
1984 Development under Air Force contract of the compact, rotating disk oxygen generator by TRW Corporation
1984 Development under Air Force contract of the COIL supersonic mixing nozzle array by Rockwell Corporation
1987-1990 Demonstration of COIL scalability to 40 kilowatts by RotoCOIL device
1987 Invention of pulsed COIL by use of a magnetic Q-switch
1989 Demonstration of high-power (700 Watts) continuous wave frequency doubling
1992 Demonstration of high-power COIL pulsing by use of magnetic gain switching

COIL Energy Characteristics
Power: 1 kilowatt to 40 kilowatt
Wavelength: 1.315 mm
Energy Source: chemical reaction
Type of operation: continuous wave or pulsed

Air Force Research Laboratory
Current as of January 1998

33 posted on 02/16/2002 5:14:21 PM PST by Fzob
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To: Pokey78; Sabertooth; Snow Bunny; Alamo-Girl; Republican Wildcat; Howlin; Fred Mertz; onyx...
America's laser of death cleared for take-off

Excerpt:

The advantage of laser weapons is that they strike at the speed of light. In the Coil, the power of a chemical reaction is converted to laser energy, and the weapon can carry on firing as long as its power source is intact.

Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary, has given the go-ahead for the next-generation AC-130, which includes full funding for the "integration of a direct-energy weapon".

The Pentagon is yet to announce when the new laser-equipped "Son of Spectre" will come into operation, but it is understood that the first upgraded version could be involved in military operations within two years.

Although lasers exist that can hit aircraft, disable optically guided missiles and destroy communications lines, the ability to vaporise enemy troops and vehicles Star Wars-style will take a few more years to develop.


Ping for high-tech military. . .
(((PING))))))
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my ping list!. . .don't be shy.
34 posted on 02/16/2002 5:16:27 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
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To: grammymoon
Real Cool, I hope the evil axis is reading this.

They'll never know what hit 'em! :o)

35 posted on 02/16/2002 5:18:28 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
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To: Pokey78
Mr. Rayment has either been watching too many reruns of old, Bond, James Bond, movies, or else he has been watching "Mars attacks" over and over and confusing MARS with USA.

Let his ilk continue to confuse our enemies with talk of the special effects from old movies, while our scientists create wonders that is beyond the imagination of HollyWood producers. Marvel not at what we are accused of having,or may have, respect instead what is already in the inventory, and respect the fact that we truly want to live in peace.

36 posted on 02/16/2002 5:20:26 PM PST by F.J. Mitchell
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To: JumpinJackFlash
Everyone else sound like junior high teenagers. ;')

Still scarred, huh?




37 posted on 02/16/2002 5:23:15 PM PST by Sabertooth
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To: one_particular_harbour
Hey, Clinton proved that anybody can be elected President in the U.S.A. When you make it to the White House, don't forget to invite me to a State dinner. OK?
38 posted on 02/16/2002 5:24:06 PM PST by Samwise
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To: Pokey78
The advantage of laser weapons is that they strike at the speed of light.
Uh... guys..... you KNEW this was coming, didn't you???
Revelation 13:11-13
11. Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.
12. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
13. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.
39 posted on 02/16/2002 5:25:47 PM PST by Elsie
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
And the Telegraph is privy to this information how?

Army magazine just ran a similar article.

40 posted on 02/16/2002 5:29:19 PM PST by xzins
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