This is really cool technology. The Navy has blown up vessels & planes and the other branches are on the way to get their own specialized versions for their applications. Shooting down missiles & planes for 5˘ per shot is pretty economical.
I haven't read yet on how long it takes to charge one of these lasers before it can fire, but I imagine it will soon be rapid-fire. The best part is that there's no way for the enemy to see where these shots are coming from, other than being at Ground Zero and observing the smoking hole in the target. No smoke trail, it's invisible to the naked eye, no radar tracking and instantaneous delivery.
I suppose maybe an observer using infrared could see the beam, but that won't help the target since things are happening at the speed of light... and that beam would be gone in an instant once they get the power increased.
This 30 KW beam burned through the engine block in a few seconds from over a mile away - and these are prototypes! Imagine a couple of these types at 100 KW mounted on an AC-130, an Apache or one mounted on a drone.
Originally Posted by Foxnews
Lockheed Martin, the defense and security technology company, demonstrated the power of its Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) laser weapon system by blasting a small truck in a recent field test. According to the company, the demonstration was the highest power ever documented by this kind of laser weapon.
In the demonstration, the 30-kilowatt fiber laser weapon was able to disable the truck’s engine. The purpose of the test was to show the company’s innovations in developing weapons technology that is more precise.
“Fiber-optics lasers are revolutionizing direct energy systems,” Keoki Jackson, Lockheed Martin’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. “We are investing in every component of the system – from the optics and beam control to the laser itself – to drive size, weight, and power efficiencies.”
ATHENA is a ground-based prototype system. In the test, the laser burnt through the engine in a just a few seconds, after being fired from over a mile away.
Through the “spectral beam combining” technique, multiple fiber laser modules come together to establish a sole, high-quality beam that “provides greater efficiency and lethality than multiple individual 10-kilowatt lasers used in other systems.”
For Jackson, this demonstration shows signs of the kinds of defense technology that the company hopes to continue to develop.
“This test represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged laser weapon systems for military, aircraft helicopters, ships and trucks,” he added.
The military is already testing laser weapons. The Office of Naval Research, for example, is building a laser weapon that will be able to shoot down aerial drones.
After disabling Achmed's Toyota, you'd still have to follow up with some HE to kill the bad guys, unless the high powered lasers will blow up the vehicle.. but it looks like these are more pinpoint disabling weapons. But if they can burn a hole through an engine block, they should be able to saute a terrorist in short order.
Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum
U.S. Military Lasers
Originally Posted by Foxnews
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