Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Fri 01/21/2011 View Thu 01/20/2011 View Wed 01/19/2011 View Tue 01/18/2011 View Mon 01/17/2011 View Sun 01/16/2011 View Sat 01/15/2011
1
2011-01-21 Home Front: Culture Wars
Breakthrough Laser Could Revolutionize Navy's Anti-Missile Weaponry
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by DarthVader 2011-01-21 12:57|| || Front Page|| [3 views ]  Top

#1 I wonder if such a laser beam couldn't be used to "steer" a dumb projectile to a target by affecting the atmosphere around the projectile.
Posted by gorb 2011-01-21 13:40||   2011-01-21 13:40|| Front Page Top

#2 I wonder why they are calling it a laser? It sounds like a Charged Particle Beam. CPBs use lased electrons, alpha particles, or hydrogen ions, instead of lased photons as in typical lasers.
Posted by  Anonymoose 2011-01-21 15:12||   2011-01-21 15:12|| Front Page Top

#3 No,
The electrons change direction in a magnetic field and thus release coherent photons with a frequency related to the velocity of change.

So light still hits the target.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2011-01-21 15:43||   2011-01-21 15:43|| Front Page Top

#4 What if they mirror-plate the missiles?
Posted by Lowspark 2011-01-21 17:57||   2011-01-21 17:57|| Front Page Top

#5 Well, according to a few remarks Dr. Lowell Wood made back during the SDI heyday, all making your missile shiny would do is cost you a lot of money. Lasers would still punch through it and having a mirror shiny enough to actually reflect lasers isn't going to survive launch or being struck by a weapons grade laser.

While any point defense system can be overwhelmed, there fast becomes a point of diminishing returns as the sheer amount of resources to kill one or two ships is simply going to be too much. Yes, you can build 200 missiles to launch at a single target, but remember you must also have crews to launch them, launchers, maintenance so that they are ready when the time comes and some method of directing the missiles to the target. And if you want to harden them so a B-2 doesn't carpet bomb your launchers with cluster bombs, the price tag goes way up.
Posted by Silentbrick - Lost Drill Bit Division - Halliburton 2011-01-21 19:44||   2011-01-21 19:44|| Front Page Top

#6 Reliable + accurate GMD-TMD capability is the future for all of the USDOD Armed Services, besides also Unmanned New Technologies + "Battlespace" INtegrated Warfare.

Gaaawd I miss Aberdeen + DARPA.

* "Avoid the hassle of chemical fuels" > IMO read, ANTI-"PEAK OIL" + OTHER.

Ala BP DEEPWATER HORIZON + GULF OF MEXICO, hopefully the USDOD + US-World Perts are double-triple-checking their Math + Models, etc. as per "PEAK OIL/ENERGY/RESOURCES".

BECUZ, AMONG OTHER, "GLOBALISM" + BY EXTENSION THE OWG-NWO THAT NO AMERICAN HAS YET VOTED FOR WILL DE FACTO FAIL 2030-2100 IFF THE SAME ARE WRONG.

But I digress ...
Posted by JosephMendiola 2011-01-21 19:55|| NA  2011-01-21 19:55|| Front Page Top

#7 hmmm I think the first 19:55 comment may be a fake, but the second 19:55 comment bears all the hallmarks of a Joe M rant. Ima thinkrn Joe's been cloned, but the clone hasn't been named yet
Posted by Frank G 2011-01-21 19:59||   2011-01-21 19:59|| Front Page Top

#8 NORTH KOREA may also have a RESERVE NUCLEAR SITE in case of outside attack by US-ALLIES, like IRAN.

* WMF > DEFECTOR: NORTH KOREA"S INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AT HUICHON/XI CHUAN USED FOR BOTH HYDROPOWER + MANUFACTURE OF URANIUM CENTRIFUGES, + CAN EASILY BE CONVERTED AT ANY TIME IN FUTURE INTO A SECURE ALTERNATE SITE [besides YONGYBON] FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

----------

The USAF-DOD is already considering developing of LR UNMANNED ABL DRONES - the real worry for Russia + China, etc. would be iff the US puts reliable BMD Lasers up in relatively slow but heavily protected UNMANNED, NON CONUS-BASED ORBITING DIRIGIBLES, IN "FIXED" = ROUTINE PATROL AREAS HIGH ABOVE THE EARTH'S SURFACE. Russia + China consider same as DESTABILIZING COMPARED TO CONUS-BASED, MANNED OR UV DRONE, "RE-CALL CAPABLE" AIR, SEA PLATFORMS ALA GLOBAL MISSLE DEFENSE + "GLOBAL PROMPT STRIKE" + future SPACE STRIKE.
Posted by JosephMendiola 2011-01-22 00:20||   2011-01-22 00:20|| Front Page Top

00:20 JosephMendiola
23:57 JosephMendiola
23:35 SteveS
23:35 JosephMendiola
23:29 Ralphs son Johnnie
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:16 JosephMendiola
23:09 JosephMendiola
22:53 tu3031
22:48 Vinny "The Ventilator" Pignitano
22:45 JosephMendiola
22:42 JosephMendiola
22:41 Redneck Jim
22:27 Redneck Jim
21:57 swksvolFF
21:40 Water Modem
21:38 swksvolFF
21:35 SteveS
21:35 Pappy
21:34 Pappy
21:16 trailing wife
21:05 Bright Pebbles
21:00 Barbara Skolaut
20:53 Varmint Snoluling7830









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com