ATHENA Laser Pew Pews a truck out of existence at a range of one mile

a reply to: Elton

reminds me of the movie "Real Genius" with Val Kilmer. time to get out the popcorn

a reply to: TrueBrit

The next push will be for deatenuatting cloud systems or thermal ablative armor,possibly reflective.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

This is why I believe the next step in laser weapons technology, will be laser pulses which are so strong, that they form a concussive blast cone around the path of the pulse, rendering damage to, and stripping that armour you mention with such speed that it might not have been there, for all the aid it offered those relying on its protection.

pulsed lasers can produce petawatt and yochta watt pulsed power levels. Not saying those are yet suited for toting out into the field; but we know how to do it at least in the lab (for now.)

a reply to: TrueBrit

Maybe a neutral partical beam could do it but the components would fry.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Well yes, thats true. That being said, there are developments in the field of material science at the moment, which are truly staggering, and have not yet been intergrated into the military technology that we generally get a peek at. I have a feeling that the advent of carbon nanotubes, metamaterials, and the like will see just such a thing be a damned sight more feasible in the future. I mean, can you imagine what advantages programmable matter would have for that exact situation?

"Have you solved the burn out promblem professor?"

"Why yes, General, I believe we have! We built the thing to reassemble itself on the molecular level, so it can burn out as much as it wants to, but becomes operable again in just a few seconds, once the molecules have rearranged themselves back into their base state."

Well, as several of you have pointed out, I guess I was mistaken about our capabilities for using such a weapon on a small, moving target. Thank you. I learned something today.

a reply to: stormbringer1701

I might be looking for the silver lining here, but development of weapons like this will require much more power in smaller delivery systems, which means there is greater motivation to invest in alternative energy production.

If we're really moving into an age of laser weaponry, the power to make them practical will also mean immense strides in power creation, storage and delivery too.

Still quite scary to see these things being developed though.

a reply to: stormbringer1701

Well....

I know what I want for my birthday now!

a reply to: TrueBrit

Metamaterials sure look promising for many factors.
I wonder at the new Fusion break through as well..

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
a reply to: TrueBrit

Maybe a neutral partical beam could do it but the components would fry.

nope! Nope! nope!

what you do is accelerate a charged nuclei to near light speed aim it and so forth.. then as it leaves the barrel you add electrons to neutralize the particles once they are going fast and aimed at what you want to hit.

and amazingly a particle beam actually lasts longer than it should in an atmosphere because the ambient stuff in the atmosphere actually forces them more together than any repulsion effect spreads them apart. talking charged particle beams there though.

but also if you precede the beam a fraction of a second by four or more laser beams you can create a jacketing effect that will hold the beam together.

i know you are thinking neutrons as the neutral particle... but firstly that's trouble to generate and aim (though rumor has it that has been solved.) and secondly the main advantage of a particle beam is because massive particles carry kinetic energy. a neutron is good but a helium nuclei, lithium nuclei and so forth are almost exponentially better because they are more massive and are easier to steer. if a neutron beam is a carpenter's hammer then a heavy nuclei is a wrecking ball.

a reply to: stormbringer1701

So...when can I order one to take hunting?

a reply to: Rocker2013

existing power supplies are adequate for what these field grade lasers can consume now. we will need compact power in the future. but there is also a new thing to consider. lasing material efficiency has started improving. before you had to put a lot of power into the medium to get a little bit of laser out. but now power out put to power input ratios are getting better; meaning it takes less energy for the same amount of pew.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: stormbringer1701

Well....

I know what I want for my birthday now!

here is one article from a few years ago. i think this has been surpased now but still it will give you a accurate picture ofthese pulsed lasers:

www.theregister.co.uk...

internet hiccup.

originally posted by: Rocker2013
a reply to: stormbringer1701

I might be looking for the silver lining here, but development of weapons like this will require much more power in smaller delivery systems, which means there is greater motivation to invest in alternative energy production.

If we're really moving into an age of laser weaponry, the power to make them practical will also mean immense strides in power creation, storage and delivery too.

Still quite scary to see these things being developed though.

not scary really. how can something more like a bullet in function or effect be scarier than an atom bomb?

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: stormbringer1701

So...when can I order one to take hunting?

back before they got skerrid information unlimited used to sell a 900 joule backpack powered handheld laser pistol. it could penetrate 9 inches of steel and was the equivalent of a van slamming into a brick wall at 60 MPH concentrated into an area the diameter of a pencil lead. information unlimited was and is a sort of mad scientist's supply center. mad plans mad parts and mad patents.

originally posted by: stormbringer1701
incidently the old ABL did use a turret, mirrors, prisms and actuators. due to the range they were expected to operate and the beam power the laser had to be held on the target for several seconds while the target was in flight and the shooting platform was in flight. it was just on the edge of doable. the ABL was cancelled due to extreme vulnerability of the otherwise unarmed slow huge platform, the range was almost too short for the system to be able to perform it's expected role. it was actually unacceptable in fact.

but along with the advances i have posted earlier; techniques have arisen to eliminate shimmer and bloom and divergence problems related to atmosphere and atmospheric conditions.

lasers no longer need fear sea mist, fog light rain, smoke, bloom and so forth.

the weapon main beam can be preceded accompanied by and followed by lower strength bracketing beams that clear the way and also squeeze the main beam whether the beam is a laser or a particle beam.

----


Lasers are a hobby of mine and I just wanted to add in that
depending upon wavelength you could really up the ability
to cut through fog and rain by surrounding the primary laser
beam with microwaves (i.e. using MASERS!) which will superheat
the surrounding air and form a lensing and reflection system
similar to the walls of a fibre optic cable.

It reduces diffraction (i.e. beam spread) and will allow
MORE POWER to get to the final destination. (Less attenuation)

See this website for the math on intensity, beam power, etc:

www.rp-photonics.com...

---

Hope that helps.

--Video Toaster 4000 and Lightwave3D Forever--

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance
I understand the need for a test like this, but I kind of wonder how "operationally-relevant" it really was. Yes, the laser is capable of this. But I imagine when the laser is mounted to a fast-moving aircraft, and the truck is driving around, rather than being propped so as to be a larger, immobile target, that it'll be significantly harder to keep that beam focused directly on the engine for the few seconds required.

Amazing technology, though, no matter how one looks at it. Quite troubling, as well.

Ever hear of a wave motion cannon?. The size of it specifically. Now take this laser or the one on the new gerald ford carrier and increase its size to that and powered by the new fusion reactors coming from Skunkworks.(the large city powering type they say they can create)

Now imagine that and with the ability to fire continuously and in a beam large enough to melt a battleship. THAT is what the military wants to have eventually. A laser so powerful that no one would dare stand up to the US ever. Even nuclear warheads/missiles woudnt stand a chance against that kind of power.

originally posted by: StargateSG7

originally posted by: stormbringer1701
incidently the old ABL did use a turret, mirrors, prisms and actuators. due to the range they were expected to operate and the beam power the laser had to be held on the target for several seconds while the target was in flight and the shooting platform was in flight. it was just on the edge of doable. the ABL was cancelled due to extreme vulnerability of the otherwise unarmed slow huge platform, the range was almost too short for the system to be able to perform it's expected role. it was actually unacceptable in fact.

but along with the advances i have posted earlier; techniques have arisen to eliminate shimmer and bloom and divergence problems related to atmosphere and atmospheric conditions.

lasers no longer need fear sea mist, fog light rain, smoke, bloom and so forth.

the weapon main beam can be preceded accompanied by and followed by lower strength bracketing beams that clear the way and also squeeze the main beam whether the beam is a laser or a particle beam.

----


Lasers are a hobby of mine and I just wanted to add in that
depending upon wavelength you could really up the ability
to cut through fog and rain by surrounding the primary laser
beam with microwaves (i.e. using MASERS!) which will superheat
the surrounding air and form a lensing and reflection system
similar to the walls of a fibre optic cable.

It reduces diffraction (i.e. beam spread) and will allow
MORE POWER to get to the final destination. (Less attenuation)

See this website for the math on intensity, beam power, etc:

www.rp-photonics.com...

---

Hope that helps.

--Video Toaster 4000 and Lightwave3D Forever--

exactly! jacketed beams.