Mobile solid state laser gun

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If it could quickly shoot down fast moving things such as artillery shells, I think that it will be very revolutionary.

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Boeing Awarded Contract to Continue Developing Mobile Laser Weapon

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 19, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a U.S. Army contract valued at approximately $36 million to continue developing a truck-mounted, high-energy laser weapon system that will destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds.

Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase II contract, awarded Aug. 15, Boeing will complete the design of, then build, test and evaluate, a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. Boeing also will develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD laser weapon system. Boeing successfully completed the preliminary design of the beam control system earlier this summer.

"This contract award is an important win for Boeing because it supports a cornerstone of the Army's high-energy laser program," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "HEL TD will give warfighters a transformational capability to counter the difficult threats posed by rockets, artillery shells and mortar projectiles."

"Boeing spent the past year developing the preliminary design of the HEL TD beam control system, and we appreciate the confidence the Army has shown in our efforts by awarding us these contract options to continue working on the program," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems.

The objective of the HEL TD program is to demonstrate that a mobile, solid-state laser weapon system can effectively counter rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles. The program will support the transition to a full-fledged Army acquisition program.

Boeing leads the way in developing high-energy laser systems for a variety of warfighter applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, the Advanced Tactical Laser, the Tactical Relay Mirror System and Laser Avenger.

Reply to
Ignoramus15257
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THAT is gonna take one powerful laser to punch a thick steel projectile..and a damned fast recycling one

Gunner

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality", John F. Kennedy.

Reply to
Gunner Asch

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This is a chemical laser that can take out multiple mortar rounds in flight. The nice thing about solid state lasers is that all you need is enough electrical power to run them, as opposed to dealing with chemical systems. And they can be ganged up to increase their power level much easier than chemical lasers.

Btw, did you get a chance to look at the power hammer plans yet? Todd

Reply to
Todd Rich

It is the speed that kills.

All the laser has to do is scar it or heat a spot. The high speed incoming will have drag coefficients and crash off target or explode.

I had the pleasure to watch one heck of a 6 gun unit that fired bursts one after another - Gatling gun mode. The target was 1/2" steel and it cut like butter as it passed through the stream of bursts.

This was a lab toy. Developed in the mid 70's.

I on a professional level consulted 4 years ago to a designer in a project that needed 10 guns to fire all at the same time! Now that is some punch. We supplied some IC's to a third party that was approved by the GAO. Must have been a dark project.

An ICBM warhead needs only a BB to slam into it for a tumble or burnout. That was proved a number of times and brought the Russians to the table.

Martin

Mart> >

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Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

Sure havent. Still up to my ass in alligators, but its in my Things to Do list...

Gunner

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality", John F. Kennedy.

Reply to
Gunner Asch

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:05:49 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus15257 quickly quoth:

I want to know how many _satellite_ kills will happen as a result of testing the lasers. Um, OOPS!

-- It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed. -- Kin Hubbard

Reply to
Larry Jaques

The idea sounds like fun, but do not forget that energy per square inch is the inverse of the square of distance. Ie, if the gun can develop so much power at the distance of 1/2 mile, it can only develop

1/160,000 that power, per square inch, at the distance of 200 miles. And that does not even cound scattering of light and absorption by atmosphere.

Now, damaging planes, that's a lot more realistic.

I also wonder if the gun would work as well if the projectiles had mirror finish.

Personally I think that it is a great technology.

On another note, I recall other research in the field of some sort of psychotropic weapons, that could make enemy soldiers shit their pants and flee the battlefield just due to those psychotropic effect. That's a very humane way of winning wars, if it works out.

Maybe the Russians used something along these lines, against the Georgians.

i

Reply to
Ignoramus15257

uhh, not quite!! The inverse square law applies to light radiating in all directions, as if from a point source. A laser beam is highly collimated and the energy per square inch is only subject to scattering, absorption, and beam spread.

If for example, a 2mm beam spread to a 4mm diameter over some distance, the energy per unit area would be reduced by a factor of 4 (plus whatever scattered or was absorbed). The distance over which the spread occurs in immaterial. It could be a few inches or thousands of miles.

Reply to
Bob

what made you think this was solid state?

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Reply to
William Noble

If they use a HF laser what happens with the exhaust as the description said it operated like a rocket engine, I would have though it would not be a good thing to be near in operation judging from how dangerous hydroflouric acid potentially is.

Reply to
David Billington

I would assume from the fifth paragraph of the article which says:

(Reposted and emphasis added)

Reply to
Todd Rich

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:51:27 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus15257 quickly quoth:

True, I hadn't thought that laser output diminished that rapidly, but satellites and their instruments/solar panels are much more sensitive than the normal target.

Yeah, especially when multiple rounds are being sought and a plane enters their pattern search...

Good question. "Paint yer bullets white, boys. The laser can't touch 'em!"

Ditto. Much more sane than wasting hundreds or thousands of projectiles as the CIWS and other gatling guns do. (Although these are much more fun to watch in action!)

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-- It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed. -- Kin Hubbard

Reply to
Larry Jaques

The Isreali's deployed something called the "Skunk" to dispel rioters.

Had the Palestinians running and tearing their clothes off trying to get away from the smell.

Reply to
RB

Laser beams *are* subject to the inverse square law, once one is well away from the nearfield (from the emitting aperture face to say 5 or 10 times the emitting aperture diameter). The "beam waist" is where the transition from nearfield to farfield happens.

Google on "gaussian beam". There is too much material available.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

OK, but it is fair to note that the constant of proportionality is very small for a well-collimated laser. As opposed to 1 for point source incoherent light. It is more accurate to say "laser beams are subject to **an** inverse square law", rather than **the** inverse square law (constant of proportionality =3D 1) that applies to point- sources.

Reply to
Bob

No, it's really *the* inverse square law. All forms of radiation follow this; the effect is geometric. Lasers focus their energy into a narrow beam, but that beam nonetheless spreads.

Think of this example. Starlight is almost parallel when it reaches us, yet it is incoherent and most certainly follows the inverse square law.

Joe Gwinn

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:18:25 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Joseph Gwinn quickly quoth:

Stars are just possibly a _wee_ bit farther than the vulnerable 200 mile (or 22,000, geo) satellite orbits we were discussing, Joe.

-- Smokey the Bear's rules for fire safety should apply to government: Keep it small, keep it in a confined area, and keep an eye on it. --John Stossel in _Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity_

Reply to
Larry Jaques

True enough, but it butresses the point that just because the divergence is low doesn't mean that inverse square doesn't apply. Close to the laser, inverse square is not followed. Far away, it is followed. For use as a weapon (versus an industrial tool), the behavoir far from the laser is the key.

Radar systems work the same way, as do optical systems not involving lasers.

The most striking example is a burning lens being used to focus sunlight. In the region from the Sun to the lens, inverse square applies. By contrast, in the region between lens and focal point, inverse square law is *not* observed. However, far from that lens, inverse square reasserts itself.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

Specifically it is the inverse square law as applied to a point source that is

1/tan (half the divergence angle) away.

This will be a very large distance for a well collimated beam, but will still obey the inverse square law.

E&OE :-) Mark Rand

Reply to
Mark Rand

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