Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: killjoy1 on April 08, 2011, 06:06:00 PM
-
So this is the laser gun the navy wants.
Called the FEL -- for free-electron laser, which doesn't use a gain medium and is therefore more versatile -- it was tested in February consuming a blistering 500 kilovolts of energy, producing a supercharged electron beam that can burn through 20 feet of steel per second.
This is a test firing of a smaller demo.
A futuristic laser mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a bobbing, weaving boat from the waters of the Pacific Ocean -- the first test at sea of such a gun and a fresh milestone in the Navy's quest to reoutfit the fleet with a host of laser weapons, the Navy announced Friday.
"We were able to have a destructive effect on a high-speed cruising target," chief of Naval research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr told FoxNews.com.
The test occurred Wednesday near San Nicholas Island, off the coast of Central California in the Pacific Ocean test range, from a laser gun mounted onto the deck of the Navy’s self-defense test ship, former USS Paul Foster.
In a video of the event, the small boat can be seen catching fire and ultimately bursting into flames, a conflagration caused by the navy's distant gun. Some details of the event were classified, including the exact range of the shot, but Carr could provide some information: "We're talking miles, not yards," Carr said.
The Navy set fire to a bobbing and weaving boat with a new laser gun mounted to a cruiser -- a first-of-its-kind test that moves the prototype closer to reality.
The Navy, Army and other armed forces have been working to incorporate so called "directed energy" laser weapons in a range of new guns, from tank-mounted blasters to guns on planes or unmanned balloons. But this marks the first test of a laser weapon at sea -- and proof that laser rifles are no mere Buck Rogers daydream.
“This is the first time a [high-energy-laser], at these power levels, has been put on a Navy ship, powered from that ship and used to defeat a target at-range in a maritime environment,” said Peter Morrison, program officer for the Office of Naval Research.
"The Navy is moving strongly towards directed energy," Carr told FoxNews.com.
The weapon, called the maritime laser demonstrator, was built in partnership with Northrop Grumman. It focused 15 kilowatts of energy by concentrating it through a solid medium -- hence the name.
"We call them solid state because they use a medium, usually something like a crystal," explained Quentin Saulter, the research office's program officer. It was used in Wednesday's demonstration against a small boat, but Carr told FoxNews.com that this and other types of laser weaponry could be equally effective against planes and even targets on shore.
"To begin to address a cruise missile threat, we'd need to get up to hundreds of kilowatts," Carr said.
20 feet of steel per second? I am speechless.
-
I wonder why the F-35 has a massive engine/generator bay designed into it :headscratch:
:noid
-
And when the enemy puts a mirror on the side and points it back at you? :neener:
-
I wonder what that would do to a skyscarper....or two skyscrapers....
-
Where is this info from?
-
In a video of the event, the small boat can be seen catching fire and ultimately bursting into flames {snip}
as opposed to 'catching fire and ultimately dancing the maccarena'?
-
as opposed to 'catching fire and ultimately dancing the maccarena'?
:rofl :rofl :rofl :aok
-
Called the FEL -- for free-electron laser.....
Wasn't that the same laser Metal Gear Rex had? Hrm maybe Hal was on to something.
-
Until they put it on a friken shark's head I remain unimpressed. :huh
-
I wonder how they deal with scattered light blinding friendlies that may be nearby. Or if they only plan to use it if the target is still miles away from anything with an eyeball (unless said eyeballs are the bad guys).
The hundreds of kilowatts comment is surely to increase the range, the increase of feet of steel per second is secondary, its already higher than it needs to be to destroy a missile.
Also I wonder how big the hole is from miles away. I.e. How tight they can keep the laser beam at those distances and energies. Too small and I imagine it doesn't do enough damage. Too big and its hard to do any damage.
-
I was under he impression the future wasn't here yet :lol
-
I wonder what that would do to a skyscarper....or two skyscrapers....
some things are best left unsaid........imo anyways
-
And when the enemy puts a mirror on the side and points it back at you? :neener:
It would have to be a bloodly flawless mirror, like the ones used in the big telescopes. Most mirrors do not reflect anything like enough light to avoid pretty rapid destruction from a powerful laser.
-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awsQs4ct0c4
-
The biggest flaw is going to be range.
Unfortunately, the beam can't bend to compensate for the fact that the earth is round.
And yes, it IS round, ish.
:noid
-
We have a 6 kilowatt laser that has a couple of mirrors that are $30,000.00 each. A laser beam is focused for a certain distance. The beam can be adjusted.
When I cut 1 inch carbon steel, I can focus at any point in the metal or above and below it. Simular to how kids use a magnifying glass in the sun to burn wood. The beam can be affected by particles in the air which can ths weaken the beam.
This is some interesting info on the test. Where did it come from?
-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awsQs4ct0c4
No, that's what a typical Mercury engine DOES! :lol