Directed Energy Weapons

[Moontanman]

Lasers are finally coming of age, directed energy weapons small enough and powerful enough to be practical are finally coming of age. The ability to shoot down incoming artillery rounds and other targets from a small mobile platform is going to start a new chapter in defensive warfare..

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/laser-weapons-get-real/

 

 

By Andy Extance and Nature magazine | May 28, 2015

 

Laser weapons have long fascinated weapons developers—most notably during the heyday of the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars, in the 1980s and 1990s.

andrea.pacelli/Flickr

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• The Changing Face of War

Silently, the drone aircraft glides above the arid terrain of New Mexico—until it suddenly pivots out of control and plummets to the ground.

Then a mortar round rises from its launcher, arcs high and begins to descend towards its target—only to flare and explode in mid-flight.

On the desert floor, on top of a big, sand-coloured truck, a cubic mechanism pivots and fires an invisible infrared beam to zap one target after another. This High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) is a prototype laser weapon developed for the US Army by aerospace giant Boeing of Chicago, Illinois. Inside the truck, Boeing electrophysics engineer Stephanie Blount stares at the targets on her laptop's screen and directs the laser using a handheld game controller. “It has a very game-like feel,” she says.

 

 

[Pmb]

See US navy shows off ship-based laser weapon in Persian Gulf at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/10/us-navy-test-laser-weapon-persian-gulf

 

It's a 30 kilo-watt laser that can destroy targets on speeding boats or aircraft with pinpoint accuracy.

 

Very cool!