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| Science & Technology |
| Boeing Contracted For Truck Mounted Laser Cannon |
| 2007-07-28 |
| US arms and aerospace manufacturer Boeing announced on Friday that it had landed a contract to develop truck-mounted laser cannons for the US Army. As part of the Army's High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) project, Boeing will produce a "rugged beam control system", which will be mounted on a monstrous 20 tonne Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. The HEL TD is intended to shoot down incoming enemy artillery shells, rockets, or mortar bombs. Laser systems which can actually blast stuff, as opposed to merely lighting targets up for other weapons to hit, are big and bulky items - hence the big carrying vehicle (though the HEL TD is a mere peashooter compared to Boeing's other famous blaster-cannon programme, the jumbo-jet mounted Airborne Laser). The idea is that HEL TD raygun lorries could, in future, zap enemy bombardments out of the sky before they hit. This is a comparatively rare case of a wild-eyed technical gizmo which might actually be some use in current counter-insurgency wars. A significant proportion of Western casualties in this kind of fighting are caused by mortar or rocket attacks on otherwise-secure bases in Iraq, Afghanistan, or (in the past) Northern Ireland. The danger isn't just to personnel: during 2005, two RAF Harrier jets were knocked out on the ground when their Kandahar airbase was rocketed. The US forces have already deployed rapidfire radar-controlled guns to defend some compounds against such incoming attacks, but a laser - if it could explode its targets reliably - would have some obvious advantages. To begin with, a beam travelling at light speed has an easier time hitting a falling shell than another shell does - even a very fast one. Then, the shells used in land-based defensive gun systems are set to self-destruct before falling to earth: but such mechanisms aren't perfect and loosing thousands of rounds off across the perimeter involves some risk to the surrounding population. To begin with, however, HEL TD is getting only a tentative implementation. Boeing's initial phase beam-controller development contract is for just $7m, though there are options allowing funding to go to $50m. This sort of money is chickenfeed to Boeing, but it has high hopes for the future. "We consider this programme an important win for Boeing because it supports a cornerstone of the Army's high-energy laser programme," said Pat Shanahan, Boeing veep in charge of Missile Defense Systems. "We believe this is the next step for developing a weapon system that can change the face of the battlefield." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #13 To be honest I don't know why you don't ring the base with souped up microwave ovens. Any attackers are Sterilised, Blinded Cooked. Depending on distance. Hopefully you already do this but don't tell anyone. It would be dead cheap to do. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-07-28 23:38 |
| #12 Wish it were so but things aren't quite that simple unfortunately. One of the problems with using THELs for fixed base defense is the problem inherent in any significant laser application. Unlike kinetic ordinance, directed energy can travel a very long way if it misses its target. Makes airspace management more than a little challenging to avoid blue on blue disasters. To complicate things even more, the effective energy exchange from the laser beam to whatever it hits is determined not only by distance but also by factors like elevation above sea level and relative humidity, which are factored into the time-required-on-target calculations for different target types. So while there is promise in the use of lasers for some applications in some places, it's not going to change things quite as much or as quickly as we'd all wish. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-07-28 21:02 |
| #11 It sounds like a great permanent defensive weapon. A base could be covered by 3, 4, or 5 of these lasers, and no penetration, from ground or air would go unpunished. Aircraft attack would become passe, as would indirect fire. Mounted on a truck allows for quick installation and relocation from blind to blind or base to base. Yes, aircraft attack has become passe. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-07-28 19:38 |
| #10 Understood. Just sayin' this isn't the ideal weapon for that gorb. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-07-28 19:16 |
| #9 You don't need to incinerate enemy troops. You just need to blind them and let the enemy decide what to do with them. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-07-28 17:55 |
| #8 well the IEDs wouldn't do much harm if we had our flying cars! Damn it. It's the 21st century, and we were promised flying cars! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-28 16:34 |
| #7 It really doesn't matter to me how we go about killing our foes. I just want them to be terrified at the prospect of getting anywhere our troops or shores. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-28 15:03 |
| #6 THELs aren't all that optimal as antipersonnel weapons. A big part of laser weapon system effectiveness is keeping the beam on the target as it moves. Computationally intensive, but doable for incoming rockets, artillery and mortars due to their usually-predictable trajectories. Also, the destruction of incoming RAM is accomplished by burning through the shell and exploding the onboard ordinance. Not energy effective to try to do this regularly with human bodies. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-07-28 14:02 |
| #5 truck-mounted laser cannons for the US Army. Say what you will, I can't help but smile. So may military SF stories from the 60's featured "laser Cannons" of one sort or another. We really are in the 21st century. Now, about those jet packs... |
| Posted by: N Guard 2007-07-28 13:51 |
| #4 Gary and the Samoyeds: Napalm is a very specialized tool, and is actually far more useful in the defense (FFE) than offense, the exception being lush mountainous area targets. As a rule, HE is the preferred means, as it gives maximum military casualties otherwise. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-28 13:07 |
| #3 Unfortunately, Zenster, our troops aren't allowed to use half the weapons we've already got. When's the last time napalm was used? |
| Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds 2007-07-28 12:59 |
| #2 Any way we can get the lens or ruby or whatever to be made out of / with pork products? We can then zap the enemy and send them straight to hell at the same time. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-07-28 12:50 |
| #1 I'm hoping our military begins to use this same tool against enemy combatants. I look forward to the day when America's foes die in dreadful agony with such regularity that they crap their pants just thinking about coming up against our troops. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-28 12:26 |