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Warfare at the Speed of Light

Posted by michael on from the also-good-for-making-popcorn dept.

unassimilatible writes "From the They Said It Couldn't Be Done Dept., the Oakland Tribune reports that the Lawrence Livermore Labratory is ensuring that the Pentagon, inside of a decade, could be armed with a beam weapon that is near-instantaneous, gravity-free and truly surgical, focusing to such hair-splitting accuracy that it could avoid civilians while predetonating munitions miles away - perhaps someday even being mounted on Humvees."

5 of 561 comments (clear)

  1. Say again? by Lord+Grey · · Score: 5, Funny
    ... experts say the Defense Department has no coherent plan for speed-of-light weapons research ...
    "No coherent plan" to use lasers in warfare? Did anyone else find this quote amazingly funny?
    --
    // Beyond Here Lie Dragons
    1. Re:Say again? by Davak · · Score: 5, Funny

      Moreover, all laser guns will, for the forseeable future, remain fair-weather weapons. Airborne particles and vapor diffuse the beam and cut its range enormously. Smart adversaries will attack under cover of smoke or inclement weather.

      "In the first order, lasers are not going to work on bad days," Campbell said. "They're just not."

      Dear Mr. Rumsfield:

      Please schedule all future wars in excellent weather. It's great for the morale of our troops and we get to use our new laser toys.

      Thanks.

      G.W. Bush

  2. Friendly Fire at the Speed Of Light! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hold Your Fire!

    Too Late!

    You Vaporized Kenny! You Bastard!

  3. Chinese embassy all over again by G4from128k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Leaving aside the technical issues of "can you do it," there are the political and moral issues of "should you do it." Precision guided, 100% accuracy is fine until you target the wrong point. The notion that we can have zero collateral damage assumes that we can distinguish between combatants vs. innocents and allies with high accuracy.

    This invention might lower the tragedies of war if we have the intell to discriminate accurately. It might also increase collateral damage/friendly fire if the device inspires overconfidence in those who press the trigger.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  4. Quantum Leap by henrygb · · Score: 5, Funny
    Is a quantum leap the smallest possible discrete change?

    Would a gravity-free weapon (even with light) defy General Relativity?

    Will the enemy start using mirrors?