Lasers on the battlefield nearly a reality

[RAMA]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-laser19-2009mar19,0,4081483.story

Looks like the laser cannon from "The Cage" is nearly a reality.

And how long after will portable versions be available? Heady stuff.

RAMA

 

[msbae]

And how long after will portable versions be available?

The sooner the better. Spare battery packs, power cells or whatever they will be called will undoubtedly weigh less than clips full of bullets.

From the article:

With the major hurdle overcome, the next step would be to take the laser from the laboratory to the field and begin shooting down missiles with it, Strickland said.

The Northrop laser produced a beam at more than 105 kilowatts, which is akin to focusing more than 1,000 100-watt light bulbs on a small spot. The intensity of the light would be comparable to that on the surface of the sun.

Forget about missiles, use that on enemy infantry. They'll run screaming in terror like they were fighting the Martians in War of the Worlds. That would make it far less likely that anyone would want to cross us. Of course, that only applies to sane people. Terrorists will still push their luck.

 

[Brent]

Could these things be used to create a laser fence? Like put one horizontal, and maybe use mirrors, or other lasers, and create a lattice fence for keeping people out of an area?

 

[BolianAuthor]

And how long after will portable versions be available?

The sooner the better. Spare battery packs, power cells or whatever they will be called will undoubtedly weigh less than clips full of bullets.

From the article:

With the major hurdle overcome, the next step would be to take the laser from the laboratory to the field and begin shooting down missiles with it, Strickland said.

The Northrop laser produced a beam at more than 105 kilowatts, which is akin to focusing more than 1,000 100-watt light bulbs on a small spot. The intensity of the light would be comparable to that on the surface of the sun.

Forget about missiles, use that on enemy infantry. They'll run screaming in terror like they were fighting the Martians in War of the Worlds. That would make it far less likely that anyone would want to cross us. Of course, that only applies to sane people. Terrorists will still push their luck.

They will NOT be able to ever run from it, which is why we should use it. I'd love to see an enemy soldier try to dodge a weapon that discharges at the speed of light.

 

[BolianAuthor]

Here's a shark with a frikkin' laser beam attached to it's head.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Is 105,000 watts sufficient to vaporize a person?

 

[tharpdevenport]

Is 105,000 watts sufficient to vaporize a person?

Donm't know, but if we get in trouble for water boarding a few people, you can damn sure be sure if we vaporize someone with a laser, we'll get a whole hell of a lot of flac.

 

[msbae]

Is 105,000 watts sufficient to vaporize a person?

Donm't know, but if we get in trouble for water boarding a few people, you can damn sure be sure if we vaporize someone with a laser, we'll get a whole hell of a lot of flac.

To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, Let them eat Laser!