Posted on 02/12/2010 7:45:41 PM PST by Stoat
“Don’t mean to rain on the parade but an airborne platform has limited time on station.”
Kill Joy. There you go again, bringing harsh reality onto a thread. :)
No doubt when they read your post, they'll stop all R&D.
Let us know when that happens. Retrofitting shouldn't be all that hard.
BTW, if you examine image #2, that should give you a somewhat of a rough estimate to your first question.
To be honest, I’m not so sure other types/techniques are not being pursued as we speak. There are issues and problems with all systems, none of which is absolutely perfect or perfected for defense applications, including satellite applications.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1
The ABL was designed for use against tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs). These have a shorter range and fly more slowly than ICBMs. The MDA has recently suggested the ABL might be used against ICBMs during their boost phase. This could require much longer flights to get in position, and might not be possible without flying over hostile territory. Liquid-fueled ICBMs, which have thinner skins, and remain in boost phase longer than TBMs, might be easier to destroy.
If the ABL achieves its design goals, it could destroy liquid-fueled ICBMs up to 600 km away. Tougher solid-fueled ICBM destruction range would likely be limited to 300 km, too short to be useful in many scenarios, according to a 2003 report by the American Physical Society on National Missile Defense.[18]
The link and the information you proved is very dated...It’s routine for general data to be released after period of time, and or after new applications/designs/technology are implemented or are currently being used or tested. I am confident, they will not be release details regarding the data of this current successful test, for some years to come.
But thanks for the link!
A ballistic missile moving at 4,000 miles per hour is also no match for a high-powered computer running clever software on numerous CPUs at a billion cycles per second.
I’ve heard of a nano-shell that the Navy sprays on the glass surrounding pilots in Navy aircraft to keep lazers from blinding pilots.......and, I remember reading, about 8 years ago, that this system could be given GPS coordinates, and it would melt anything on that spot, from up to 200 miles away.
Built in California!
Indeed, great news :-) My most fervent hope is that any and all classified information pertaining to this and other related projects will STAY within proper hands in California and the USA, and will not be given to the Chinese as per Clinton's example or any other nation other than perhaps a long-term stalwart ally such as Great Britain. With Zero in the White House, I have a great fear that projects such as this will be terminated or that their data will be given away or sold as a bargaining chip or as simply a 'diplomatic gesture'.
We need a true edge against the missile threat, and further development of projects and technologies such as these could provide us with just that....if it's not squandered by an America-hating one-termer.
This sounds like perfection of a Tesla device to activate particles in the atmosphere. If so, the other nations are not far behind.
Seems like this would be an excellent anti-personnel weapon. Minimal collateral damage - not even any broken windows, unlike the A-10, AC-130, and the like that they've been using to take out insurgents these days.
I was thinkin’ Hugo Chavez, Kim or Ahmadinejad while they were pontificating in front of a crowd
Just get a baby with laser eyes.
http://babieswithlasereyes.com/
Funny thing is, if you build some optical magic widget that optically tracks a missile, the first thing you do is go test it at White Sands missile range where you film the test...with the state of the art optical magic range cameras that optically track the fastest missiles on the planet, day-in-day-out!
Sure mounting that on a 747 is an added complexity, but not much. A 747 at cruise with Mr Newton helping steer is more stable than the tops of many skyscrapers that have narrow beam microwave repeater dishes on them!!!
With the musket/rifle development, the propellant and bullet came first, and the sighting came later.
On the ABL, the sighting/tracking tech came first, and the laser load will catch up.
Frankly, that's the right order of operations. What is the point of firing if you aren't certain you can hit the target? The paradigm is similar to software. Get the algorithm producing correct results before worrying about how fast it works. Mistakes at high speed are still mistakes.
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