Army's New Laser Weapon Can Shoot Down Mortars and Drones

Yahoo/ABCNews ^ | 21 Dec 2013 | Luis Martinez

[null and void]

And what happens when these lasers are turned on protesting crowds of hungry people because of hyperinflation?

[Kozak]

Bet does wonders on human targets
out to the horizon...

[puppypusher]

“Bet does wonders on human targets
out to the horizon...”

Yea!Just hope that your not on the receiving end.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Leftist weenie:

"You can't use that laser thingy! You'll shoot your eye out. And...It's not fair!"

[JoeProBono]

[Robert A Cook PE]

Much more practical than the multi-container THEL (Tactical high Energy laser) I worked with back in themid-90’s. That required several shifts to hook everything up and calibrate, but was liquid fuel-powered.

Still needs that expensive. THEL Laser was a very large diameter searchlight-like looking aiming device, like on the truck above. Navy was testing a similar beam device. Good thing above a Navy installation is that local atmospheric heating is negligible because the ship is always moving into “clean” cool air, so local air heating around the searchlight doesn’t distort that little-bitty beam. Ya still got to hit the incoming missile/mortar shell.

[sean327]

I wouldn’t call the SAM system that brought that aircraft down a “microwave oven”. That F-117 was shot down with the SA-3 using the below combination of Aquisition, Target Track/Missle Guidance, and Height Finder radars.

P-15 “Flat Face” or P-15M(2) “Squat Eye” 380 kW C-band target acquisition radar (also used by the SA-6 and SA-8, range 60 km.

SNR-125 “Low Blow” 250 kW I/D-band tracking, fire control and guidance radar (range 40 km, second mode 80 km.

PRV-11 “Side Net” E-band height finder (also used by SA-2, SA-4 and SA-5, range 28 km max height 32 km/105,000 ft).

Call this system a “microwave oven” all you want, but it is a very deadly system when operated by a very well trained crew. Unlike the Iraqi crews in both the Gulf War and Iraqi Freedom, this crew knew what the hell they were doing.

[CodeToad]

Football sized mortars? 5 inches or so? And where were these drone in altitude?

Sounds like a promising technology but hardly a viable product.

[Nuc 1.1]

Better keep the info away from dims or it will wind up in the hands of our enemies.

[CodeToad]

” still haven’t been able to replicate our technology, even a decade later”

Actually, they don’t want to. They know stealth has a limited lifespan due to better sensor technology.

[SunkenCiv]

Oh, don’t you mean, technology that doesn’t really work (per Obama)? This is money better spent on muzzie outreach and subsidies for Russian weapons manufacturers.

Thanks shove_it.

[CodeToad]

“Compared to the speed of light”

Compared to servo technology that points the laser they are the speed of light.

[xone]

When is a truck that size ever around mortar fire?

FOBs FSBs anywhere we are in a defensive position.

[GeronL]

wow

[GeronL]

Yes it does seem quite inexpensive doesn’t it?

Maybe it will be deployed alongside CIWS on ships some day?

[GeronL]

yep

[GeronL]

South Korea should be on the phone any day trying to order a few dozen of them

[Hulka]

And the fact that Gen Wussy Clark demanded the 117’s fly the exact same flight path, the exact same time, every night.

[Hulka]

Perhaps not yet. . but new weapon systems take time and development.

[Lazamataz]

He could have photographed it but then he’d have to kill you.