Posted on 11/09/2002 2:00:22 PM PST by gubamyster
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Weapons that travel far faster than the proverbial speeding bullet are as little as five years from use in combat, say defense officials who used a laser to shoot an artillery shell out of the sky this week.
In a first-of-its-kind feat, the Army used a high-energy laser built by TRW Inc. to heat the shell, fired from a howitzer at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and cause it to explode in flight. The test was successfully repeated a second time.
The shell, moving at about 1,000 mph, was tracked by radar and heat-sensing infrared sensors, then locked onto and zapped by the laser beam traveling at light speed.
The so-called Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser is a short-range weapon being co-developed with Israel, which wants it to destroy Katyusha rockets fired at its border villages by Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon.
The chemically powered weapon, which looks like a searchlight, is one of a handful of laser devices the Pentagon is working on under the umbrella of missile defense.
In earlier tests, the Army used the tactical laser to shoot down 25 Katyushas, both singly and in salvos. Artillery shells, however, generate far less heat than do rockets and are more difficult to track, officials said. Also, since rockets are pressurized, they are easier to detonate than are shells.
``This was, science-wise, a significant accomplishment,'' said William Congo, a spokesman for the Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
Before, the only defense against a lobbed shell was to bulk up on armor, move out of the way or dig in, said Dan Goure, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Arlington, Va. The ability to intercept a shell changes that.
``Now, in theory, this kind of capability allows you to deny that kind of attack,'' Goure said.
The tactical laser could enter use in 2007. Since development began in 1996, the Army, the Israeli Ministry of Defense and TRW have spent $250 million on the project.
It is designed for use against shells, mortars, short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and air-to-surface munitions. It could also target helicopters and small aircraft, including robotic drones.
Officials hope to shrink the weapon enough to allow it to be mounted on a truck, allowing it to be deployed where needed.
``It's movable, it's not mobile. What we are moving toward is a much smaller, mobile device,'' Congo said. An artists rendering of the actual deployed weapon shows it assembled from two tractor-trailers, the laser protruding on top.
The weapon would also have to be nimble enough to destroy multiple rounds as quickly as they are fired.
``Shooting down a single artillery shell is pretty cool, but artillery shells don't come in ones,'' said Christopher Hellman, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington.
Other related weapons the U.S. military is developing include the Airborne Laser, a $3.7 billion project to mount a laser aboard a Boeing 747. The flying laser is being built to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles shortly after launch.
A July report by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found the Air Force has underestimated the complexity - as well as time and cost - of developing the Airborne Laser system. Even today, it remains ``very difficult'' to calculate the project's cost and schedule, according to the report.
Also under development are space-based lasers, which would also target ballistic missiles, and ground-based systems that could take out orbiting satellites, crippling enemy communications.
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
11/09/2002 14:50 APO
Hmmmm sounds interesting. Where might I find out more ?
excerpt:
US Begins Testing Airborne Laser To Shoot Down Missiles
flash gordon would be proud
Washington (AFP) Jul 19, 2002
A jumbo jet retrofitted to carry a laser gun capable of shooting down enemy missiles has been flight-tested for the first time as part of US efforts to build a controversial missile defense system, according to defense and industry officials.
The modified Boeing 747-400 took off from an airport in Wichita, Kansas, Thursday for a two-hour flight to check the aircraft's aerodynamic performance and system operation, the officials said.
The test marked the beginning of a months-long flight-worthiness test program for the first airborne laser aircraft, which sports a nose turret and top-mounted laser targeting pod.
The plane is expected to become a key component of the multi-layered missile defense system envisaged by President George W. Bush.
end Snip....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/719355/posts
Looks like the real reason Art Bell is retiring (yet again) to me.
And thank you, Edward Teller.
*rim-shot*
Bless you.
I was bracing myself for an earnest explanation...
Thats exactly what I would do. Nothing better than war time conditions to test a new prototype weapon.
Thank you. I got a chuckle out of the title.
Wow, Christopher, is it really "pretty cool"? Or would "narly" be a more accurate description?
Cool.
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