Boeing's new laser cannon 5 mile tank killer

Sooo todays news US launching Tie Fighter Prototype, Iran faked tests of a crappy missile that apparently can't reach Isreal.

Where are the Iran victory posts today?



This would seriously be a marshmellow roast of epic proportions, what kind of nut is Ahmadenidenimahdinajinnad anyway screwing around threatening genoicde and ignoring everyone about nukes, what's he going to do with 3 nukes anyway? Kill 4 Million Jews and 4 Million of the palestinians he supposedly wants to save? before having his country long distance roasted...

Imagine if we actually tested the capabilities of haarp...

This is all so ridiculous already

But seriously this thing is as cool as it gets... I'm sorry but being able to say your country has Death rays is just... I dunno, very cool somehow

2 to 1 says a random Iranian athelete mysteriously goes on fire during the olympics this year

I'm sorry you have to forgive the bad jokes... but this is too much lol, we aren't even busting out the stuff no one knows about yet, it's all horrible... but I can't help but find our military to be just... incredibly amusingly cool...

Whats wrong with That kook? he really believes starting this war or having it period will spawn some messianic character... it's like me beliving that if warheads are flying at the Usa Super Man will blow his super breath and send them all flying into space... ( bush actually believes that shhhhh, I hate it when he pouts)

Cheeny really is a Sith isn't he? He totally Dark Jedi mind melted Bush and it's all remote control exploding bugs and laser cannons and Dolphins with psionic powers from here on out isn't it? Same guy that came up with droping flaming ball bearings from outer space on our enemies... nice.

I'm being silly but good grief the posts about Iran even having a fighting chance are more ridiculous...

I'll be watching the moon tonight to see if I can see where they are installing the giant plasma cannon



[edit on 11-7-2008 by mopusvindictus]

I just love how people think this is new...

They have stuff like this attachd to sats only 1000x more powerfull.

Originally posted by mopusvindictus
Sooo todays news US launching Tie Fighter Prototype...

If you find this interesting you should check the "Rods From God" space war concept, among other things.

All weapons contain something that either burns or goes boom!

The question in war is not will it kill the crew if something goes wrong. The question is will it kill the enemy if it goes right?

Is it cost effective, and deployable?
Can it be mass produced?
Does it fulfill a mission critical role otherwise unfulfilled, or does it do it better?

Is it cost effective, and deployable? Can it be mass produced? Does it fulfill a mission critical role

The most important question is:does it make things go hugely bang and does it look cool.The rest is details.

reply to post by WestPoint23


I hate that name, it was originaly called project crow bar and it dates to the mid '80's. And nothing has come of it, as far as we know.
The anti armor version was to have used a 50mm/2" solid tungsten penetrator that would be laser or infra red guided to the target armor.
They were meant to be dropped in mass on massed soviet tank foremations.
The anti shipping version would use a 100mm penetrator, that would have been capable of completely peircing any ship all the way through.

There are several systems in development right now, each suited to a diferent purpose.
The biggest and baddest is the ABL

A 747 based platform with a chemical laser good for twenty shots on a tank.
It has a range of several hundred miles and would be used mainly for airdefence but in subsequent versions it wll be able to engage ground targets.
After it completes the final round of tests this summer it will be operational and available for missions.

Then there is the ATL, advanced tactical laser is more of a test bed for aiming software and such, as the newer solid state lasers pack more punch in a smaller size.
The c130 platform will likely be refitted with solid state lasers.
Like what is used in sky guard and laser centruion and laser avenger.

Laser avenger

the solid state lasers need only proper power out put to operate, no limiting tank of chemicals.
skyguard in action


Although the navy will use solid state lasers in the near term, a centurion/skyguard system will retro fit right into existing phalanx achitecture, they will end up using free elctron lasers.
Free electron lasers are generated by a cyclotron, and the navys experiment lithium fusion reactors are basically a cyclatron as it is, so it will be to their advantage to combine the FEL with the fusion powerplants.
Got no pic of the FEL yet, and Ill post the stuff about the newest in lithium fusion reactors..

The ABL is powerful enough to damage the thin casing of a rocket - they've very vulnerable when they're at high speed and a lot of forces are acting - bit there's no way it could take out a tank (except by blinding the crew). Spot size and power levels mean it woudn't get through armor any quicker than a blowtorch...and you have the additional problem that it's not designed to work through the thick atmosphere at sea level.

The ABL is also something of a development disaster, it's several years late and waaaay overbudget...and it has now been scaled back to a demonstrator. It will never be an operational system.

Dream on....

Originally posted by Dark_Ace
i thought Boeing only made aircraft like 747

wow was i wrong

Yeah and general electric make washing machines and westinghouse make fridges - sorry I meant nuclear weapons.

reply to post by sir_chancealot


Heh, I was just thinking how effective would this laser be on a tank with a mirror finish.

I thought this was just for deterring any nuclear missles that might enter into our airspace? I think there are already a couple flying over US airspace in case N. Korea decides to create suicide.
I might be wrong though. I read about this a while ago,its pretty freakin awesome. The hummer version is particularly exciting. Finally developing laser weapons. I'm curious as to when our soldiers will have laser guns


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

I would like to see these laser weapons effectively penetrate a simple cloud of smoke, which would be prominent in a real war zone (especially if it really can destroy tanks).

I think it would be interesting to see the US actually fight a competent and modern army. They could test all of their expensive projects against the cheap and effective anti-American weapon systems that Russia and China constantly develop.

As far as I'm concerned, a 747 is nothing but a priority target (ABL or AWACS) and once it's gone, battlefield control shifts.

You said it takes 3 seconds, but what happens if the vehicle is moving and the same exact spot can't be hit repeatedly for 3 seconds I wonder if a tanker had a way of knowing he was being hit by a laser with a sensor and immediately moved the tank could it be defeated or at least minimize the damage

It would take a lot longer than three seconds to get through tank armor!

And in any case the ABL cannot effectively target objects on the ground - the air is too thick, too much haze etc. Whether it could actually shoot down a missile (boost phase only, it couldn't hit one re-entering) is another matter. It hasn't managed to so far...

You may recall that the first missile intercept test was set for 2004. Five years later they still haven't fired it in flight.

It's not the ABL. It's a different weapon system entirely. Rather than shoot down missiles that are thousands of miles away, it's firing at targets that are significantly closer.

The ATL is a fraction of the power of the ABL - around 100 - 300 kilowatts. With a spot size of ten centimeters, you can tell it's not going to be cutting through steel any time soon. In fact, it's doubtful you could even kill a person with it.

Good for starting fires, damaging things and blinding people though.

If you're right about that, then why do the developers at Boeing think it can melt through tank armor? That sounds like an implausibly large miscalculation on the part of people who build lasers for a living.

[edit on 19-6-2009 by mattifikation]

just my humble opinion - but 3 second pulse to defeat a tank = chuff useless

if such a system is feilded - then all potential adversaries who operate tanks are inevitably going to be looking at countermeasures , including , but not limited to :

smoke / chaff / glitter particle launchers - simple genades that would fire automatically

automated / semi automated evasive action - ok it may be rough on the crew and powertrain to suddenly throw one track into reverse and the other full ahead - but combined with smoke and other measures - if it gets the pulse spread over a large enough surface of the AFV or breaks lock entirely - the tank is saved

divisional air defence artillery - quite modest 57mm anti aircraft canons can reply effectivly to a laser with a 5 mile stand off

ablative armours , ceramics , water jacketed armour , even cryogenic reactions - ie spraying a jet of liquid nitrogen / water in the arc that the laser is targeting will produced a could of ice crystals that will degrade the beam

everything helps

lasers need to go a long way before they have any chance of being ` battlefeild worthy `

its one think to loiter over your own terretory - safe in your air defence environment - shooting pulses at missiles that only have a milimeter or 3 of alloy protecting them

its quite another to be attempting to take 3 secs / tank above his air defences

MBT main armnent guns and infantry / vehicle and air launched ATGMs will be with us for quite some time

Boeing have never claimed the ATL can damage a tank (except by targeting sensors). It is designed for soft targets: the selling points are the extreme percision and speed-of-light delivery.

The US hardly has a need for even more anti-tank weapons.

We live in such a wonderful world. Technology keeps advancing at such break neck speed. I can only hope to live long enough to see some laser tracking device to kill the common house fly.