><http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/021020-laser1.htm> > >Los Angeles Times October 20, 2002 >Homing In on Laser Weapons >By Peter Pae > >Turning a Buck Rogers fantasy into reality, Southern California defense >companies are on the verge of building a laser weapon small enough to fit on >a fighter jet, yet powerful enough to destroy an enemy aircraft at the blink >of an eye. >.... >Raytheon already is working with Lockheed Martin Co. to outfit the >next-generation fighter jet, known as the Joint Strike Fighter, with a >solid-state laser. Lockheed officials said they are considering modifying the >short takeoff-vertical landing version of the plane to carry a 100-kilowatt >laser gun. The weapon would be powered by electricity generated by the jet >engine and used mainly to defend the warplane from missiles. >... >Research in solid-state lasers received a major boost last month when the >Pentagon quietly launched a $50-million initiative to develop a 25-kilowatt >laser by the end of 2004, with the goal of deploying by the end of the decade >a 100-kilowatt laser that could be installed on warplanes, tanks and ships. >The most powerful laser currently is a 10-kilowatt model that is being tested >by the Army. > >Information about the damage such lasers could inflict is classified. But in >general, experts say, a 25-kilowatt laser could blind an enemy sensor several >hundred miles away. It also could put a hole through a sheet of metal from a >distance of several miles. > >Correspondingly, a 100-kilowatt solid-state laser -- the Holy Grail for >weapons developers -- could deliver a destructive beam to a target dozens of >miles away, making it an effective tactical weapon. > >A laser's beam would not by itself cause a target to explode. But it could >slice through the outer casing of a missile, disabling the guidance system or >causing the missile's propellant to explode. > >Lasers do have one big drawback. The beam is not very effective in inclement >weather and requires greater levels of energy to pierce thick clouds.
Because of the relative motion and closing rates of actively engaged combat systems and the ease with which the missile surfaces can be hardened against directed energy, I suspect fielding an effective system will be as difficult and expensive as the antimissile systems now under development. steve When there is no justice a State is merely big scale exploitation, just like a gang of thieves is a miniature kingdom. -- Augustin
