Secret US spontaneous human combustion beam tested

[mawilson 2,133]

American death-tech goliath Boeing has announced a long-delayed in-flight firing

for the smaller of its two aeroplane raygun-cannon prototypes, the Advanced

Tactical Laser (ATL). The ATL blaster, mounted in a Hercules transport aircraft,

apparently "defeated" an unoccupied stationary vehicle.

C-130 transport plane with laser belly turret fitted

"This milestone demonstrates that directed energy weapon systems will transform

the battlespace and save lives," said Boeing exec Greg Hyslop. "The ATL team has

earned a distinguished place in the history of weapon system development."

"The bottom line is that ATL works, and works very well," added corporate raygun

honcho Gary Fitzmire.

The ATL is much smaller than Boeing's headlining laser weapon, the jumbo-jet-

mounted Airborne Laser (ABL), intended to blast enemy ICBMs as they soar

upward from pad or silo. Rather the ATL is intended to pick off individual ground

targets, somewhat in the fashion of existing Hercules-based side-firing AC-130

gunships. Indeed Boeing has referred to the ATL in the past as its "Laser Gunship".

ATL does resemble the ABL in some important respects, however. Like the

bigger weapon, it is a chemically-fuelled laser rather than a solid-state electrically

powered one, meaning that it can fire only a limited number of blasts before its

sealed, six-ton laser module must be maintained and refuelled with hazardous

toxic chemicals.

Just how many shots the ATL can fire before being rearmed is unclear, but hints

dropped by Pentagon sources suggest it could be as few as six. This compares

poorly with the firepower available aboard a normal AC-130, leading some

analysts to wonder what the point of the ATL really is.

Boeing say that it will offer "ultra-precision" and "dramatically reduce collateral

damage", though so far nothing of this sort has really been shown. A 40mm cannon

aboard a normal AC-130 could "defeat" a stationary ground vehicle without

damaging its surroundings: a .50-cal sniper rifle fired from a helicopter could do

the same to a moving one.

It hasn't escaped notice, however, that neither of those things could strike

silently - perhaps from so far off that the carrying aircraft wouldn't be noticed

either - and without leaving any solid evidence of US military presence. Nor have

observers failed to note that the US military agency in charge of ATL is the

secretive Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

Boeing have evidently had some problems with the ATL - airborne test firings

were expected last year, but this success didn't happen until last Sunday. However

it would seem that the system may soon be as ready for frontline use as it will

ever be, at least until electric lasers without fuel limitations are weaponised.

In years to come, the secret supertroopers of SOCOM may be able to cause

a cell tower to stop working, a vehicle's fuel tank to suddenly explode, or a single

person to inexplicably be incinerated - all completely silently and tracelessly,

without anyone knowing they were ever there and not so much as a spent bullet

left behind.

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