US Navy 4 years away from ship-mounted laser cannon prototypes

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Well Shoop Da Whoop. When do i get my Gundam?

I wonder if they actually work or its just more SDI BS of us just sending defense contractors dumptrucks of money and them pretending to make things that work?
 
This is the implementation of the fiber laser they are refering to in the article:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqLkpcHavZE

It's essentially an array of COTS fiber cutting lasers and an automated mount. They will be used to down incoming UAVs, missiles, and combat small vessel swarms. They won't ever be viable for ship to ship combat due simply to range.

As for the free electron laser: IMO they are too complicated, inefficient, and large to ever become a practical shipboard weapon.
 
I don't know if this is awesome or depressing.
Awesome in the context of our technological advancement and living out sci-fi fantasy. Depressing in the context of the money being spent on this and the idea of what these weapons would do to actual human beings. I'm imagining warfare being even more horrific with people being sliced to pieces by laser beams =[
 
I for one can't wait for this technology to trickle down to the common man. You can pry my laser gun from my cold dead hand.
 
Well Shoop Da Whoop. When do i get my Gundam?

I wonder if they actually work or its just more SDI BS of us just sending defense contractors dumptrucks of money and them pretending to make things that work?

Considering the last several major military projects (Army's FGS, Marine Corps' Osprey, F35, F22, and the Stryker) which were developed based on projected future needs of the military instead of what it actually needs today were abject failures at anything other than giving several corporations huge amounts of money, I'd say this stuff is not going to work anytime soon.

Some hints from the article - the solid state laser doesn't work well in polluted conditions. What this actually means is that the solid state laser doesn't work at all in anything but perfect conditions.

The one mega-watt laser isn't yet usable on a ship, which really mean that the megawatt laser sometime works in a laboratory when there's a perfect power supply, the thing is completely stationary, and 150 man hours of maintenance go into it between each shot.

The navy doesn't have the littoral capabilities to deal with some Somali pirates, but lasers is where the R&D money is going? Pretty crazy...
 
Yeah, even if it reflects the light, it's still in contact with it, meaning the mirror would warp and melt (?).

most mirrors would have enough imperfections that the laser would fuck them up within seconds. It takes a special kind of mirror to be a good defense against a laser, and even then it wouldn't be for very long.

The navy doesn't have the littoral capabilities to deal with some Somali pirates, but lasers is where the R&D money is going? Pretty crazy...

Who gives a flying fuck about Somali pirates really? I mean...really? They're a nuisance at worst, and a useful excuse to be in the area. The Navy did have littoral ship projects but they ran on the expensive side, so I think they were either downrated or stopped. Fuck pirates, get lasers. We will fuck any ship any other country comes up with, sunburn antiship missiles, all of it.
 
Considering the last several major military projects (Army's FGS, Marine Corps' Osprey, F35, F22, and the Stryker) which were developed based on projected future needs of the military instead of what it actually needs today were abject failures at anything other than giving several corporations huge amounts of money, I'd say this stuff is not going to work anytime soon.

Some hints from the article - the solid state laser doesn't work well in polluted conditions. What this actually means is that the solid state laser doesn't work at all in anything but perfect conditions.

The one mega-watt laser isn't yet usable on a ship, which really mean that the megawatt laser sometime works in a laboratory when there's a perfect power supply, the thing is completely stationary, and 150 man hours of maintenance go into it between each shot.

The navy doesn't have the littoral capabilities to deal with some Somali pirates, but lasers is where the R&D money is going? Pretty crazy...

Pirate aren't a threat to national security. Sure they're annoying and a real problem, but they're of little risk to your or I and the safety of the American way of life. The Navy is attempting to stay ahead of the curve and if that means 150 man hours of maintenance between shots in the near future in order to create 1 second per shot in the distant future, then so be it.

You really think this technology will never reach that point? Of course it will given enough time and money. Two things the US has. They realize the limitations of kinetic weapons..energy is the future. Don't you ever watch tv?
 
Fun toys but worthless in reality. Days of Naval Combat basically ended years ago

I feel like this is designed for disabling vessels rather than just destroying them. I don't see how a weapon that can just burn a hole into something within a direct line of sight as being more destructive than the regular ship artillery much less cruise missiles.

I was thinking that maybe this is also designed for anti-aircraft but their test with the 15 kilowatt laser had a target that was only 1 mile away so I don't really know if the 100 kilowatt one would get up to a range that can take out aircraft.

Absolutely not. The lasers would burn right through them, like a hot knife through already-melted butter.

Maybe some sort of glazed ceramic coating so that it can both diffract and insulate the energy?

Or you could just use submarines.
 

Ask yourself what's more important: Finding other worlds to live on, exploring the universe, unveiling its secrets, and utopias OR killing everyone you love. You know which is more important. Killing. Because we don't know if there's anything worth killing in space yet. If we KNEW there were things to kill in space you bet your bottom dollar those pillars would be reversed.
 
Some hints from the article - the solid state laser doesn't work well in polluted conditions. What this actually means is that the solid state laser doesn't work at all in anything but perfect conditions.

... Not sure if you know how solid state lasers work. The only reason why you'd want multi-wavelength lasers is to decrease laser scattering and absorption... which, at 100kW to >1MW, is pretty much a moot point. Solid state lasers -- and in fact all lasers -- will lase regardless of externalities.

The difference between the laser working in a polluted environment and in a clean environment at that power level is like wanting something extra-crispy.
 
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