US Navy blows up stuff with Laser

[Hilander]

The US navy has demonstrated a ship-mounted laser weapon system in the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Iran, capable of destroying targets on speeding boats or even aircraft with pin-point accuracy, it told reporters Wednesday.

Lasers are no longer science-fiction: Watch the US Navy blow up stuff with a 30-kilowatt weapon

At only 59 cents a shot this will be far more economical than missiles. A missile is about 2m a shot. The laser can be run on low power to disrupt or damage instruments or high to destroy.

This isn't a test, they are finished with testing it is fully operational. The video in the article was just a demonstration of what it can do. The next step is to make them more powerful so they can destroy a large ship.

I wonder why they are banned for use on humans. Can't be no worse than hitting them with a missile. Also if you are taking out a ship there will be people on board.

Thougths?

 

[The_Chameleon]

While this laser is designed specifically for taking out heavy machinery, hand-held lasers could potentially cook holes in people while igniting their clothing. Not exactly a clean kill and a potentially horrific way to go, to say nothing of causing PTSD in witnesses. Also, the potential range of an anti-personnel laser would put the best sniper rifle to shame and would thus take guerrilla warfare to a whole other level. I think it's sort of a given that each party should have at least a general idea who is shooting at them so things don't get too... complicated.


- Cham

 

[Hilander]

No that wouldn't be good. Need to stick to old fashion guns or missiles when it comes to killing people.

Which if you are aiming at a ship you could hit people as well even without intending to if they step in the way the last second before it hits.

 

[The_Chameleon]

No that wouldn't be good. Need to stick to old fashion guns or missiles when it comes to killing people.

Which if you are aiming at a ship you could hit people as well even without intending to if they step in the way the last second before it hits.

I think it has more to do with knowing where fire is coming from. How would war change if the enemy was equipped to kill people from miles away at the pull of a trigger. Imagine that kind of firepower falling into the wrong hands. Sniper rifles are bad enough that way with a range of up to a mile or so. With lasers, the pulse is so fast that telling it's source trajectory would be virtually impossible and they are relatively silent. You'd just have soldiers bursting into flames left and right and not have a clue where the enemy fire is coming from. Also, a sustained high energy, narrow beam laser sweep could literally cut a large battalion in half like something out of a sci-fi horror movie, putting the best automatic weapons to shame. If we start manufacturing stuff like that, God help us all if the bad guys ever get hold of it.



- Cham