Star light, star bright, first terrorist I fry tonight.
Posted on 02/23/2002 2:39:48 PM PST by bescobar
America's laser of death cleared for take-off By Sean Rayment (Filed: 17/02/2002)
AMERICA'S enemies will soon face a weapon, once confined to the Star Wars films, that can bring death at the speed of light.
The special operations AC-130 Spectre gunship, whose conventional weaponry has been used to devastating effect since the Vietnam War, is to be fitted with a laser that can shoot down missiles, punch holes in aircraft and knock out ground radar stations.
Despite the successful operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, the emergence of asymmetric terrorist warfare - attacks such as September 11 where the enemy is unseen - has led the Pentagon to identify the need for a more sophisticated and deadly weapons system.
The next generation gunship, codenamed AC-X and nicknamed 'Son of Spectre' by US defence officials, will carry all the weaponry already used on the AC-130, including twin 20mm Vulcan cannon (capable of firing 2,500 rounds per minute), 40mm Bofor cannon (100 rounds per minute) and a 105mm Howitzer. Its 21st-century addition, however, will be its biggest punch: a chemical oxygen iodine laser (Coil), capable of carrying out lethal and non-lethal attacks.
The advantage of laser weapons is that they strike at the speed of light. In the Coil, the power of a chemical reaction is converted to laser energy, and the weapon can carry on firing as long as its power source is intact.
Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary, has given the go-ahead for the next-generation AC-130, which includes full funding for the "integration of a direct-energy weapon".
The Pentagon is yet to announce when the new laser-equipped "Son of Spectre" will come into operation, but it is understood that the first upgraded version could be involved in military operations within two years.
Although lasers exist that can hit aircraft, disable optically guided missiles and destroy communications lines, the ability to vaporise enemy troops and vehicles Star Wars-style will take a few more years to develop.
The Spectre, flown by the 16th Special Operations Squadron, has a crew of 13, including two observers using television and infra-red images to direct the four gunners on to their target.
Working in pairs, normally providing close air support for special forces ground operations, Spectres can circle targets for hours, pulverising areas the size of football pitches with extraordinary precision.
The Spectre has, however, come to the end of its operational life and further upgrades have been ruled out on cost grounds.
Rob Hewson, the editor of Jane's Air Launched Weapons, said: "The laser will be the atomic weapon of the 21st century. Since the 1970s, US scientists have conducted a series of secret experiments in the Nevada desert using lasers.
"We know that they had lasers capable of causing immense damage but they needed huge power packs. This remains a problem and this is why a laser weapon can only be fitted on an air frame the size of the AC-130. But advances will be made and the power plant will shrink and one day it will dominate the battle field.
"The Americans may already have a very powerful laser weapon far more advanced than we have seen. They have been carrying out research in this field for years but it is a very secret weapons programme and we have no idea how far they have progressed."
Once the Coil and its power plant have been fully developed, the USAF hopes to fit it to a whole range of manned and unmanned aircraft, such as the Predator reconnaissance probe, which is fitted with Hellfire missiles and has been used in CIA operations in Afghanistan.
Lasers could also be used as an additional weapon system to fighters, bombers, helicopter gunships and warships but this is unlikely for a decade.
Star light, star bright, first terrorist I fry tonight.
Can anyone place that quote?
In case you weren't being rhetorical... I believe it was Darth Vader to Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars movie.
...is what they'd most likely say. Does anyone know a good weapons acronym Allah could stand for?
Americans
Like
Looking at
Arabs in
Hell
How's that?
Please elaborate on your thesis. I don't recall the rebellion in Star Wars making war on civilians. All military action was directed directly against the Empire's military establishment. Perhaps I was missing something.
I really don't like the symbolic analogy on this thread of comparing the US's new weapon to an energy weapon fired from the Evil Empire's Death Star.
To quote the title of Buchanan's book - We are "A Republic, not an Empire"
Oops
Do you remember the last time the frogs didn't support the US... hint, they lost an embassy in Libya. again I say Oops!
Interesting point. But, the difference between "terrorist" and "freedom fighter" has been the perspective of those who apply the label. It used to be that "freedom fighters" were those who enjoyed the support of more than 50% of the population of the country in question. Although, history has blurred that line also.
I must have missed that part in the movies where the Rebels flew suicide space fighters into buildings full of civilians.... what movies were you watching ?
Imagination...Intuition...An analytical open-mind...
Maybe "All Laser Land and Heaven."
HRW Questions U.S. Laser Programs As Blinding Laser Weapon Ban Becomes International Law
(Washington, July 29 1998 )_Human Rights Watch today warned that the Pentagon is developing laser weapons that could undermine a new international ban on blinding lasers, which takes effect tomorrow. In a letter to Secretary of Defense William Cohen, the rights group said that numerous U.S. laser programs, now in the research and development phase, may not violate the letter of the ban treaty, but could subvert its purpose and intent. Human Rights Watch warned that unless the U.S. upholds the ban more effectively, American servicemen themselves could face blinding laser-type weapons on the battlefield.
"We are witnessing an explosion of so-called dazzling laser weapon programs that could prove to be, in effect, blinding laser weapons in disguise," said Stephen Goose, program director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. "There is a real danger that the procurement and spread of such weapons could render the blinding laser ban meaningless," said Goose.
Dazzling or glare-producing lasers have as their primary function attacking human eyes. In the letter to Secretary Cohen, Human Rights Watch writes, "The distinction between a dazzling laser and a blinding laser remains disconcertingly unclear. We fear that weapons labeled as dazzlers could easily be used to blind intentionally, and that weapons labeled as dazzlers will proliferate greatly throughout the world."
Since 1995, when the U.S. agreed to the Blinding Laser Protocol of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, the Pentagon has cancelled several blinding laser weapon programs. President Clinton has stated that the U.S. will abide by the terms of the protocol, even though the Senate has yet to ratify it The protocol won the requisite twenty ratifications six months ago, and now enters into force on July 30.
Human Rights Watch identifies and provides details on a host of laser weapon programs of concern, including BOSS, Persuader, LX-5, Maglite, Saber 203, TLOS, Green Laser, Nighthawk and Y-Blue. In some cases, it appears that the very blinding laser weapons that were being developed prior to the 1995 policy (e.g., Saber 203, LCMS/TLOS) are being modified for deployment as dazzlers, with just a less apparent blinding attribute.
Human Rights Watch also expresses concern that lasers originally developed for dazzling and blinding missions are being offered to law enforcement agencies and potentially for commercial sale. In one notable example, a California-based company, Light Solutions, is reportedly developing a dazzling counter-terrorism "green laser" for the Army on behalf of the U.S. Secret Service. A secret "black" program, this laser is intended to defend the White House and other government buildings in Washington from someone who might employ a light plane or helicopter in an attack.
Human Rights Watch writes, "The emergence of operational lasers intended to attack eyes ultimately has the effect of undermining the humanitarian and nonproliferation objectives of Protocol IV [Blinding Lasers]. U.S. military personnel are thus more likely to face blinding lasers on the battlefield. The emergence of anti-personnel lasers in the civilian world also opens the way for criminal elements to obtain anti-personnel lasers. For the U.S. to research and deploy these systems undermines the `norm' against blinding that Protocol IV represents."
A July 1996 U.S. intelligence report, Worldwide Laser Capabilities, obtained by Human Rights Watch under the Freedom of Information Act, concludes, "Global proliferation of laser weapons is a real possibility." It states that "Russia leads the world in the development of laser blinding weapons," and reveals that Jordan has imported a laser dazzler.
The Human Rights Watch letter asks Secretary Cohen to:
The letter was accompanied by several fact sheets about lasers in the U.S. inventory, as well as copies of earlier correspondence between Human Rights Watch, Senator Patrick Leahy, and then-Secretary of Defense William Perry. Copies of the letter and other materials are available upon request.
I can't see the difference.
We developed the atomic bomb in the 1940s. With slide rules. With technology which today is simply ancient.
I wonder if we have developed anything new since then?
LOFL !!!
It might help if you can see past 9-11 when it comes to symbolism. IF the only people you deem a terrorist are the people who flew planes into the trade center towers, then we should immediately quit fighting over there in Afghanistan, because the only terrorists that you recognize are dead.
This is true for any gov't before or after Sept 11th.
especially after this Patriot Act.
Dang, I've missed the roundups of people who disagree with the government that must be happening... right? Or do I need to wait a little longer as they are gearing up for it.
Doc
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