US Navy ready to deploy new laser gun

[mota bhai 2,675]

February 17, 2014

The Navy plans to deploy its first laser on a ship later this year.

...

For the Navy, it's not so much about the whiz-bang technology as it is about the economics of such armaments. [it] cost pennies on the dollar compared with missiles and smart bombs, and [it] can be fired continuously, unlike missiles and bombs, which eventually run out.

"It fundamentally changes the way we fight," said Capt. Mike Ziv, program manager for directed energy and electric weapon systems for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

...

The solid-state Laser Weapon System is designed to target what the Navy describes as "asymmetrical threats." Those include aerial drones, speed boats and swarm boats, all potential threats to warships in the Persian Gulf, where the Ponce, a floating staging base, is set to be deployed.

...

Lasers tend to lose their effectiveness if it's raining, if it's dusty or if there's turbulence in the atmosphere, and the rail gun requires vast amounts of electricity to launch the projectile, said Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Lexington Institute.

"The Navy says it's found ways to deal with use of lasers in bad weather, but there's little doubt that the range of the weapon would be reduced by clouds, dust or precipitation," he said.

Producing enough energy for a rail gun is another problem.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/17/us-navy-ready-todeploynewlasergun.html

[spookyturtle 9,466]

All right! I wonder who'll be the first to claim that the Second Amendment gives the right to own one of these.

[Darnell 8,478]

I luvs the news posted from Al-Jazeera ! Thanks, AraJit !

[mota bhai 2,675]

Why are you so fixated on the source every time I share something from Al Jazeera?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Set phasers to stun! Pew pew!

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

All right! I wonder who'll be the first to claim that the Second Amendment gives the right to own one of these.

Me but with no more than a 15 second burst clip

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

All right! I wonder who'll be the first to claim that the Second Amendment gives the right to own one of these.

Me but with no more than a 15 second burst clip

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Lasers.. The perfect weapon until the enemy does something "clever" like use a can of reflective metallic spray-paint... And suddenly glitter bombs have real military applications. Thwarting a prolonged laser attack would take a trip or maybe even two to hobby lobby.

What happened to the particle beams they were working on? Those sounded so much cooler... I just can't get excited by a weapon that is essentially nothing but a really intense hue of the color purple being fired.

Now show me a working rail gun on a ship and I'll need some Kleenex to clean up - that's hot stuff!

Edited February 18, 2014 by OnMyWayID

[robbie jeannet 5]

Cover everything with mirrors and lasers should be ineffective.

[Pooky 3,786]

Cover everything with mirrors and lasers should be ineffective.

It's a little more complicated than that, and depends greatly on the power output of the laser

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I call dibs on this one.

[Darnell 8,478]

Why are you so fixated on the source every time I share something from Al Jazeera?

Not fixated. But thanks for thinking of me - you rock, and stuff !

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Speaking of really powerful lasers.. The NIF in California is experimenting with nuclear fusion.. They have the record for the most powerful laser blast in history.. At the time the laser was firing it was using more than 1000 times the power of the entire united states combined.. So they have pretty strict rules for leaving the thing on I imagine

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/12/worlds-most-powerful-laser-fires-most-powerful-laser-blast-ever/

Not mentioned in this article (because it happened after in a later experiment) they finally for the first time were able to create a fusion reaction that released 10 times more energy than the laser itself.. Makin' power!

Edited February 19, 2014 by OnMyWayID

[Teddy B 17,252]

Set phasers to stun! Pew pew!

[GandD 5,966]

Speaking of really powerful lasers.. The NIF in California is experimenting with nuclear fusion.. They have the record for the most powerful laser blast in history.. At the time the laser was firing it was using more than 1000 times the power of the entire united states combined.. So they have pretty strict rules for leaving the thing on I imagine

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/12/worlds-most-powerful-laser-fires-most-powerful-laser-blast-ever/

Not mentioned in this article (because it happened after in a later experiment) they finally for the first time were able to create a fusion reaction that released 10 times more energy than the laser itself.. Makin' power!

That's gonna be a good day when they get it figured out. I hope you don't have too much invested in solar when they crack it