SCI/TECH: Solid Success in Speed-of-Light Weaponry

Northrup Grumman has announced that it is having success in the effort to bring laser weaponry to the battlefield. The Joint High Power Solid-State Laser (JHPSSL) which is funded by the the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense - Joint Technology Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On November 9, the company announced that it had produced over twenty-seven kilowatts of power for a period of three hundred fifty seconds. The laser weapon can be used on ships, combat vehicles and aircraft against missiles, artillery rounds and other targets.




Speed of light weaponry has some obvious benefits and advantages and brings that much closer to the world that now only exists in the imaginations of science fiction writers. No mention is made of the use of lasers as an anti-personnel weapon, but one would assume that such use will probably be outlawed by by international agreement. Clearly, laser beams could improve battlefield safety by limiting the effect of large incoming munitions.

Related News Links:
www.space.com
www.livescience.com
www.globalsecurity.org
www.naplesnews.com

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[edit on 2005/11/14 by GradyPhilpott]

I think you are missing the important question here Grady...and that question is...When will this be available at Walmart?

Hmm, I wonder if it'll make it to ya know hand held weaponry....

then that leaves me to wonder, is there anyway to track a laser weapon? you know how they can trace a bullet to a gun.

I don't see how it'd be possible... murder could be a lot more rampant without the risk of getting caught.

I would say it's inevitable that it will be useful as an anti-personnel weapon. It may also be outlawed for use as such by the UN, but that just means the U.S. will use it anyways while the rest of the "civilized nations won't. If you think i'm being over-cinical with that statement, just check out the post from last week about the U.S. using white phosphorous even though it has been outlawed by the U.N.

Originally posted by IndicaDragon
It may also be outlawed for use as such by the UN, but that just means the U.S. will use it anyways while the rest of the "civilized nations won't.

That's an absurd statement. The US is virtually the only nation in the world to follow the Geneva Conventions and the use of Willie Peter (white phosphorous) in flares and as marker rounds has never been against any international treaty.

[edit on 2005/11/14 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by Lysergic
...then that leaves me to wonder, is there anyway to track a laser weapon? you know how they can trace a bullet to a gun.

They could make each laser such that each would have a unique signature, but in all likelihood, such a weapon would never be approved for civilian or even law enforcement use. While it is legal, but expensive, for civilians to own fully automatic weapons, so far as I know, they are not used by law enforcement. The laser weapon would likely be considered in the same league, legally, as a sawed-off shotgun.

[edit on 2005/11/14 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by IndicaDragon
I would say it's inevitable that it will be useful as an anti-personnel weapon. It may also be outlawed for use as such by the UN,

Why? What is the difference if the enemy combatant is killed using light versus say a lead projectile propelled by a energetic chemical reaction?

I do not see those UN "Peacekeepers" Armed with a smile and a have a nice day button. Well, given the recent rape scandals regarding UN troops that may be in error

Originally posted by FredT
I would say it's inevitable that it will be useful as an anti-personnel weapon. It may also be outlawed for use as such by the UN,

I think it would be likely that anti-personnel lasers might be banned using the same logic that hollow-point and dum-dum bullets are banned for military use, while being perfectly legal for civilians and law-enforcement.

But, who knows. There could be plenty of technological, tactical and logistical reasons the individual laser weapons might not be feasible for many decades.

[edit on 2005/11/14 by GradyPhilpott]

I think its a lot closer than we think Grady, The THEL system is to the point where it can be mounted on a Humvee. I think the Star Trek type weapons are a long ways away and will become practical with the advent of room temperature superconductors.

The US has is and planning to spend some serious change on directed energy weapons. I firmly believe that the F-35 was selected because of the potnetial of housing such a weapon in the lift fan bay.

The often ridiculed Star Wars program that Reagan proposed was simply a few decades to early

Lasers can not have signature without degrading the power of the beam. Lasers that have that much energy/power will not warrent high temp, ceramic appatures with a serial number printed on it as the details would just vapourize.

Light weight pulsed ND:yag or ND:glass lasers with passive Q-switches are here and can blind very easy, even from the scattered light that the dot reflects after it hits something. Even a high peak power laser can take out video cameras and ignite gas vapours if it hits something that sparks when the beam hits it (from far away).

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
...fully automatic weapons, so far as I know, they are not used by law enforcement.

Heh. Just continue to spread that rumor, son.

Local, state, and (can you say Waco) feds have it all in the palm of their hand- if and when command says go.

You're speaking of the future. I'm speaking of the "...as we speak...."

could such a laser b used to power some sort of deep space vehicle or sat?

Originally posted by Lysergic
then that leaves me to wonder, is there anyway to track a laser weapon? you know how they can trace a bullet to a gun.

I don't see how it'd be possible... murder could be a lot more rampant without the risk of getting caught.

i am pleased to present you with the good use of a brain award.

i SERIOUSLY doubt they would tackle the heady problem of giving lasers a signature. you'll have to be faster than light to get the bullet. you're only going to get the hole. to leave a signature in the burn patterns of every laser weapon produced would be quite a challenge, indeed.

How long did it take forensic science to figure out how to match a gun to a bullet or case? Probably ten seconds after the first electron microscope hit the market. If it can be conceived, someone will figure out how to do it. My guess is that if you think the anti-gun crowd is vocal now, just wait till someone tries to market the first laser gun. Can you say "Special Interest Legislation?" If it takes a signature to make them legal, the free market will produce a signature.

[edit on 2005/11/14 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
How long did it take forensic science to figure out how to match a gun to a bullet or case? Probably ten seconds after the first electron microscope hit the market. If it can be conceived, someone will figure out how to do it. My guess is that if you think the anti-gun crowd is vocal now, just wait till someone tries to market the first laser gun. Can you say "Special Interest Legislation?" If it takes a signature to make them legal, the free market will produce a signature.

how long did the first electron microscope hit the market after the first gun was produced?
centuries, yeah?
tracibility(is that even a word?) has never been a condition of bullet sales, so far as i know.
i only think it's an interesting angle from which to think about a new weapon's 'impact'.
we don't have to argue about EVERYTHING, grady, LOL!

Originally posted by FredT
I think its a lot closer than we think Grady, The THEL system is to the point where it can be mounted on a Humvee.

any links on proving that?

as far as I know the THEL is like the size of 2 semi trailers.

and I think handheld laser weapons that can put a hole through some one is still a ways off...my best guess...30 years minimum.

Surely they're not pumping 27 Kilowatts of power into this thing, are they? If so, I'd like to see the power source!

I'm also assuming that, since it was Northrop Grumman who came up with it, there has to be an aircraft connection. VERY COOL!!

Does the bill of rights say we have the right to bear lasers?

You guys know they already invented lasers right? I mean the handheld U.S Government ones.

No no its not a conspiracy cause I saw it on TV. Like a couple years ago the govt was advertising or something. I can't remember. I remember this like light blue box with the Presidential Seal and this guy talking about how you can own one or something.

[edit on 11/15/2005 by Conspiracy Theorist06]

Matching a laser to an owner would be harder then doing the same for a drill bit and the hole it made. Photons spread out depending on air quality and the heat of the laser at the time, you might have 10 different patterns to use untill they all look the same.

Currently a back pack powered laser can not "pop" through a person but it can blind them and make marks in/on the skin. Used in war, a Q-switched 27KW laser could blind 1000 troops or more in 1-5 seconds and in effect make them easy targets. Back pack powered blinding lasers can be made for under $500 and have an invisable beam. That 27KW laser is probably powered with 35-80KW since most lasers are not that efficient.