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Kazamblam
Fusion Laser
Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Posts: 342
Movie(s): 14
Location: A cardboard box under the freeway
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 Posted: 8/27/07, 5:56 PM Post subject: Tactical L |
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There's an interesting piece in Time magazine about developments in laser weapons. As well as describing the usual anti-missile systems – like the famous multi-billion-dollar Airborne Laser - there's a smaller one I hadn't seen before. This sounds as though it might have some useful tactical applications:
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| …more down-to-earth military uses of the laser may be much closer at hand. TRW Systems in Redondo Beach, Calif., for instance, is working on a portable chemical laser (which produces a beam from the energy released in the reaction of two or more chemicals) that could be carried into battle by a unit of only three men. Aimed like a rifle, it would silently burn a fatal, quarter-inch-wide hole in the body of an enemy soldier up to five miles away. "Once you've got him in your sights," says a TRW engineer, "you've got him. There are no misses." |
TRW Inc have a strong history in the military laser field. But if you're wondering just how much 'closer at hand' this particular weapon is, then you're liable to be disappointed. Because that Time article is dated Monday, Sep. 04, 1972. That's how long these things have been promised, and thirty-five years on I don't think they're about to come up with the goods.
Chemical lasers have not done too well int he last few decades. While we hear a lot of talk about them, and vast amounts of money are poured into the Airborne Laser, Tactical High-Eenergy Laser and the Advanced Tactical Laser, they have been very slow to deliver. Having to carry around quantities of toxic, corrosive chemicals was always going to be a problem – the exhaust from a chemical laser rifle is probably more dangerous than the beam. Given this track record, I think we're entitled to be a bit skeptical when we hear about a new laser weapon just around the corner.
Don't write off laser weapons altogether. Solid-state lasers which just require a supply of electricity go from strength to strength. Employing a more sophisticated approach than burning a hole through the target means that short-pulse weapons can do serious damage using much less energy. But it still might be a year or two before they get into the field… |
You can't deny how cool that is!
Source
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Siris Le Osiris
4.99mW Green Laser Toy
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 2
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: 8/28/07, 5:00 PM Post subject: |
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That is hardcore lol, gotta to wonder what the weight is like though.
Can imagine poor privates having to parade around with one of those things for hours on end. |
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Schrecken Licht
Wicked Lasers Master
Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 717
Location: Maryland USA
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| Posted: 8/28/07, 10:12 PM Post subject: |
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Ya beat me to that one.....but yes, that would be awesome if it ever came to pass.
The part about burning holes thru enemies from miles away....  pretty bold that they came right out (a defense contractor) and said that!
Imagine the anti-war protests in those future days ...."Burn matches - not people!!!"
Here's another article suggesting that solid state lasers might help realize this dream (or nightmare, depending upon if you are on the business end of such a laser)-
http://www.dailytech.com/Portable+SolidState+Pulse+Laser+Latest+Hope+f or+Laser+Gun/article8618.htm
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Overmind
Elite Laser
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Classified
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| Posted: 8/28/07, 11:40 PM Post subject: Re: Tactic |
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C00l or not... an anti-infantry rifle carried by 3 GIs in totally inefficient.
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Cyparagon
Elite Laser
Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: 8/30/07, 9:46 AM Post subject: |
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| quarter inch at 5 miles? that's less than a MICRO-radian. I call shenanigans on this article. |
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shikari_rock
Wicked Lasers Master
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 979
Picture(s): 34
Movie(s): 1
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| Posted: 8/30/07, 9:54 AM Post subject: |
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They should have some kind of rangefinder capable of 3 miles< and have a focuser on it. So the computer focuses the laser to a nanometer point and then you fire it. 3 miles away. Yeah baby!  oops |
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sfd101
4.99mW Green Laser Toy
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 2
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| Posted: 9/14/07, 7:37 PM Post subject: Lasers mil |
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| LASERs are a tool. Any tool can be used for many purposes. However, the misinterpretation of a tool, science fiction aside, is the fault of those who hope for the impossible. A chemical LASER as described would be fatal to user and target, and then would be a hazard in short and long term. The dream of LASERs are a simple one: it is a sword. It is a gun. We already have swords, we already have guns. A sword that can cut through anything is dangerous even to the user, and a gun is dangerous even to the user. A rifle is safe because of the long barrel, and that is why America has the NRA, and the right to bear arms in relation to RIFLES, not guns. A handgun is dangerous. So is a pistol. Any document wherein the gunman is blocked with simple hand-to-hand effort and thereby has the pistol aimed at his or her self can have the trigger fired at his or her self. That is why the gun is dangerous. The rifle is not dangerous, unlike a shotgun, because it cannot be aimed at oneself. It is designed for long range, which is why a rifleman is safer: because the target is far away, and therefore more harmless. A sniper, however, is a unique soldier who is trained in specialized attacks. At the risk of delving into classified material, we will remain on topic, as we are: a military laser would be a rifle, not a gun, or a sword. So then, a military LASER would also be a rifle, not a pistol or saber. That is why the production is so limited, and the science so complex: it is an attempt to use sunlight or chemical byproduct as long range tool. Therefore, the sheer nature of LASER technology always points elsewhere: to light or chemical. The efficiency, the environmental pollution factor, and the safety all leave much to be desired. So we continue reading history reports as if the future is soon here. It is not; we have not flying cars, nor should we: they are unsafer than cars, which are the most unsafe means of transportation. Likewise, a LASER is unsafer than a gun, or a sword, because they cannot be applied consistently in a manner that is appropriate to war and peace time. |
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Overmind
Elite Laser
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Classified
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| Posted: 9/17/07, 7:27 AM Post subject: |
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lol
Rifles are uses instead of guns because the lenght of the barrel dictates the accuracy, not because GIs are stupid and shoot themselves. They do that with rifles too, despite the lower probability.
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yathern
Fusion Laser
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 333
Location: Here, there.... Everywhere.
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| Posted: 9/25/07, 9:11 PM Post subject: |
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| If they made laser snipers, they wouldn't have to calculate wind, humidity, gravity and all that. And if its infrared its impossible to tell where it came from. |
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nexus™
Nexus Laser
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 106
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Location: Here, Now
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| Posted: 9/27/07, 10:55 AM Post subject: |
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| yathern wrote: |
| And if its infrared its impossible to tell where it came from. |
Unless you have Nightvision Correct me if I'm wrong
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yathern
Fusion Laser
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 333
Location: Here, there.... Everywhere.
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| Posted: 9/27/07, 2:38 PM Post subject: |
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| true |
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Overmind
Elite Laser
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Classified
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| Posted: 10/03/07, 8:55 AM Post subject: |
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| yathern wrote: |
| If they made laser snipers, they wouldn't have to calculate wind, humidity, gravity and all that. And if its infrared its impossible to tell where it came from. |
It would depend on the weather conditions.
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shikari_rock
Wicked Lasers Master
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 979
Picture(s): 34
Movie(s): 1
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| Posted: 10/03/07, 9:30 AM Post subject: |
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| Exactly, if it was raining or it was foggy, you wouldn't hit anything. |
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