NationStates Jolt Archive

They seem to be coming - real lasers that will be used to shoot at missiles, aircraft, ground vehicles, personnel, and other targets - in the same way that guns and cannon are used today. The US seems to be leading the way in this effort.

For instance, by 2010, US fighters will be armed with combat laser weapons.

Other US aircraft will have anti-ballistic missile lasers, and some will have ground attack lasers.

And here's a thought:

Why the Geneva Convention will not stop blinding by laser

Article 1 of the Geneva Convention's Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons has laudable aims. It states, "It is prohibited to employ laser weapons specifically designed, as their sole combat function or as one of their combat functions, to cause permanent blindness to unenhanced vision."

But Article 3 opens the door to lasers that blind * so long as that was not their aim. It states: "Blinding as an incidental or collateral effect of the legitimate military employment of laser systems, including laser systems used against optical equipment, is not covered by the prohibition of this Protocol".

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2585
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/20/tech/main578998.shtml
http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-04/dlnl-bff053102.php
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000871.html

Hey, whatever it takes to revolutionize weapons, I really don't have any views.

While they'd be a useful tool, I dont think they'll ever replace conventional weapons systems.

It all comes down to dwell. Can a laser emit enough power without overheating in a short enough time to do real useful damage in the time that the laser can dwell on a a target spot?

If it can, you have a weapon. :)

i like laser weapons so far

they seem more precise as I don't like to see collateral damage

they also reach their target faster so that I imagine is good if you wanna minimize misses

I also imagine that we wouldn't have to worry about toxicity right?

don't they take a lot of power/ how many shots would a laser get? would it have to be mounted on a large plane with big batteries or could fighter jets and small unmanned drones have them as well?

I see no problem with it. Dead is dead whether from bullets, shrapnel, or lasers.

I think that they would be very useful. The problem with them though is that would they be powerful enough to destroy a nuclear missile in time? Not to mention the problem of them overheating, like Lunatic Goofballs said.

It all comes down to dwell. Can a laser emit enough power without overheating in a short enough time to do real useful damage in the time that the laser can dwell on a a target spot?

If it can, you have a weapon. :)
With the current crop of chemical lasers that work (ABL, ATL, MIRACL, and THEL), they get around the problem by making a laser that exhausts the waste heat along with the working gases as well as making the lasing chamber much wider than the beam (so as not to stress any optics) and using a final aiming mirror to focus the beam down.

That works, but the laser tends to be bulky.

The dwell time required for destruction depends on the target, its material composition, and the stresses it's under at the time.

The new generation of lasers to come on in 2010 that have a lot of the problems you mention (and no easy solution) are the solid state lasers. But they have some that work in the lab at weapon power levels. Just a matter of time before they are of practical size.

The advantage of the laser is that it sharply reduces your logistical train. For the chemical lasers, even though the working material is exhausted from the lasing chamber, in all designs it is recuperated - so when you charge up later, you just require electricity. For the solid state lasers, power is generated and accumulated in capacitors.

No ships full of ammunition to be seen.

Plus, you have the huge advantage of Speed-Of-Light weaponry. No need to lead a target or compensate for windage or jinking - just lay the sighting reticule or targeting system on the target and bang, no more target.

All that said, I really DON'T see lasers as changing much on the ground. Even the solid state designs are too delicate and too power hungry to make good infantry or tank weapons. But air and sea is another matter entirely.

The Ballistic Missile is toast. Dead duck. Ditto high-flying aircraft, and probably spy sats too - lay a good sized laser on one and burn out all that lovely detection gear. Aircraft will fly NOE or they won't fly at all, and cruise missiles will be the order of the day - especially since even present day radars can track incoming 105mm shells with sufficient accuracy to backtrack to the launcher. I can see a mid-21st century armoured column including specialised air defence laser wagons capable of shooting down an entire artillery barrage.

At sea is even worse. Say good bye to the carrier fleet - they'll be quite useless, since their planes have nowhere to hide. My guess for the mid 21st is engagements between massive Battleships, with laser interceptors as secondary armaments and massive railguns for offensive punch.

Welcome to the mid 21st century. Looks a lot like the late 19th, doesn't it?

They seem to be coming - real lasers that will be used to shoot at missiles, aircraft, ground vehicles, personnel, and other targets - in the same way that guns and cannon are used today. The US seems to be leading the way in this effort.

For instance, by 2010, US fighters will be armed with combat laser weapons.

Other US aircraft will have anti-ballistic missile lasers, and some will have ground attack lasers.

And here's a thought:



http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2585
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/20/tech/main578998.shtml
http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-04/dlnl-bff053102.php
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000871.html

The UK has had laser weapons for years.

I suspect the mirror industry may be about to see an enormous boom in sales.

While they'd be a useful tool, I dont think they'll ever replace conventional weapons systems.

but the matchlock was thought to be too 'unconventional' to replace swords/bows yet they progressed to modern weapons which still employ the same ideas but harness different technologies:sniper:

I love lasers! Pew pew pew!

Phazers :)

The new camoflague will be shiny and reflective. It'll be like some sci-fi movie.

While I can see LASER weapons replacing conventional firearms, it won't happen for a long time. The only battlefield implement that a LASER can destroy effectively are slow, conventional ballistic missiles, which are basically fuel, an engine, a warhead, and a thin metal skin. Tanks, ships, even aircraft aren't going to become viable targets until the lasers get more powerful and smaller.

Bah...Scaramanga have had Lasers for 40 years...He blew up James bond's plane with it in "The man with the golden gun"...:D

Personally I prefer hot lead...

Sure the laser has advantages with speed and all that, but among other stuff, richoches are some nice surprises on a battlefield :P

Rail/Coil guns and ETC rifled weapons will be equipping the tanks and ships future, not flashy lasers.

We have the technology to build laser weapons, but not a holodeck? Rip off!

Bah...Scaramanga have had Lasers for 40 years...He blew up James bond's plane with it in "The man with the golden gun"...:D


He also had a theme song. And a midget.

He also had a theme song. And a midget.

So in the future we shall all have a theme song and a midget? Sweet, but I still want the holodeck.

So in the future we shall all have a theme song and a midget? Sweet, but I still want the holodeck.

Why do you need it? Your midget can be a sex midget if that's what you need.

Like some said before me... wouldn't the easy solution be to just cover your whole plan/missile/tank/ship in mirrors and send the whole shebang right back at the shooter?

Why do you need it? Your midget can be a sex midget if that's what you need.

I am shocked, shocked that you assume the only purpose of a holodeck is sex.

He also had a theme song. And a midget.

Didn't he also have an extra nipple?

Didn't he also have an extra nipple?

Who doesn't?

We really should go back to staright out swords and shields.

The UK has had laser weapons for years.

Really? evidence?

Liasia']Really? evidence?

Watch Star Wars. All the Imperials are British people in disguise.

I am shocked, shocked that you assume the only purpose of a holodeck is sex.

Just make sure if you use it for sex, you don't get slapped with 3 paternity suits when the holograms become real. :p

Just make sure if you use it for sex, you don't get slapped with 3 paternity suits when the holograms become real. :p

Thats why you use holocondoms, silly. :p

Watch Star Wars. All the Imperials are British people in disguise.

They were in disguise? seemed pretty obviously british to me.

Well, they thought thought the funny hats and white metal suits were pretty good disguises.

Wrong!

Thats what they wear around here. I have to say i was surprised to see hollywood copy us, but whatever floats their boat i spose.

They seem to be coming - real lasers that will be used to shoot at missiles, aircraft, ground vehicles, personnel, and other targets - in the same way that guns and cannon are used today. The US seems to be leading the way in this effort.

For instance, by 2010, US fighters will be armed with combat laser weapons.

Other US aircraft will have anti-ballistic missile lasers, and some will have ground attack lasers.

And here's a thought:



http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2585
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/20/tech/main578998.shtml
http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-04/dlnl-bff053102.php
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000871.html
I've been at the Lockheed Martin assembly base and taken a tour. They're also planning to make satelites that can stop missile launches by shooting a laser at a missile as it launches. Freaky stuff.

Today's superanimals require heavier weapons. Mark my words; there will come a time when even howitzers are not enough to take down the need breed of deer. When that happens, we will all be glad for lasers.

i like laser weapons so far

they seem more precise as I don't like to see collateral damage

they also reach their target faster so that I imagine is good if you wanna minimize misses

I also imagine that we wouldn't have to worry about toxicity right?

don't they take a lot of power/ how many shots would a laser get? would it have to be mounted on a large plane with big batteries or could fighter jets and small unmanned drones have them as well?
A laser that has enough power to kill/maim is very very difficult to stop. The collateral damage from a laser weapon would make regular weapons look like the safest thing since knives (knives are very targeted weapons).

A laser that has enough power to kill/maim is very very difficult to stop. The collateral damage from a laser weapon would make regular weapons look like the safest thing since knives (knives are very targeted weapons).
A laser targetting an area (like a laser bomb) might actually decrease collateral damage, because it doesn't create radiation or a large explosion.