US to install laser turrets on aircraft

Started by eyebiter, January 27, 2013, 10:09:34 AM

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eyebiter

January 27, 2013, 10:09:34 AM
http://gizmodo.com/5978740/us-military-to-install-laser-turrets-in-combat-airplanes

"liquid-cooled, solid-state lasers"

Finally that 30 years of Star Wars research starts to pay off...

LongBlade

#1
January 27, 2013, 02:22:47 PM
Wow. Cool find. Thanks for sharing :)
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Martok

#2
January 27, 2013, 02:52:46 PM
Sweet! 

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TheCommandTent

#3
January 27, 2013, 05:43:43 PM
Very cool.
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

Shelldrake

#4
January 27, 2013, 09:07:06 PM
Hmmm...I wonder if something similar might be used to defend MBTs against AT missiles.
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

besilarius

#5
January 28, 2013, 07:10:38 AM
Forwarded the article to an analyst I know.  His comments:

Several points about this poor article to consider:

1) The 747-based ABL was an abject failure, NOT a success.  The
corrosive chemicals were so difficult to handle that it was
effectively impossible to operate in a non-spacesuited environment.
As any high-school chemistry student could (and did) tell the US Air
FARCE many times in the 1990s.

2) HELLADS is first going to be tested on ground-based vehicles;  I
would be surprised if OPEVAL airframe tests were actually completed by
2014-Dec-31.

3) Even if they work from aircraft/RPVs, a HELLADS-type system will
indeed transform warfare, but not in the way the Air Farce expects;
rather, it will have the effect of eliminating all CAVU tactical
flight ops over enemy territory, because *ground-mounted* lasers will
always have the advantage over airframe-mounted ones, due to (a) more
available power (duh...), (b) "armoring" (by which I mean ability to
both conceal and shield the ground-mounted laser in a way that is
patently impossible for aircraft.

I had forgotten why I'd started ignoring Gizmodo a while ago, but this
helped me remember!  Thanks!

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bayonetbrant

#6
January 28, 2013, 08:31:41 AM
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

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Mr. Bigglesworth

#7
January 29, 2013, 11:49:08 PM
Ground mounted lasers have the advantage where they are[/i] airborne lasers have the advantage of speed that determines where the battle takes place. When air power cuts supply lines ground lasers cant get to the fight.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; "
- Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598

GDS_Starfury

#8
January 29, 2013, 11:51:52 PM
I found the article here and it reads much better.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=23895982&nid=1012
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