I have some insider info.
AC130 LJ Edition with Laser Turret:
When they are perfected, high energy lasers will make all fired projectiles obsolete. Wide array lasers are in the pipeline, something the military is working on but will not admit.
I have some insider info.
AC130 LJ Edition with Laser Turret:
Nope.
Lasers can only shoot a straight line.
Other munitions can shoot over the horizon, over objects/hills and even be programmed to explode at some distant over or near an object to spread sharpness or over pressure to kill or injure.
There is no such thing as indirect fire with a laser. It is only line of sight. Anything over the horizon is out of reach.
Now there were/are programs with space based mirrors to redirect laser beams to distant targets, but the mirror must be in the right place at the right time. A space based laser is easier in some ways, but getting the energy into space in the first place is difficult, and stabilizing a satellite with a high-energy laser firing on board is not a trivial exercise. Plus, there is a treaty which forbids it.
The lasers will be one more tool in the kit. The weakness of the AC-130 platform is MANPADS. As far back as the Gulf War we were losing gunships to shoulder-fired SAMS. The task has been to give the AC-130 the ability to stand further away from the target, beyond the slant range of the portable stuff. Lasers will help with that. I’m guessing the 105 will be deleted when that happens (but that’s just a guess).