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Truck-Mounted Laser Guns

Posted by kdawson on from the sharks-with-wheels dept.

bl8n8r writes "Boeing has announced a contract with the US Army to develop laser cannons that are to be mounted atop 20-ton trucks for the purpose of shooting down incoming artillery, rockets, mortars, or bombs. The High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator project actually shoots stuff instead of just painting a mark on a target for other armament to hit."

16 of 370 comments (clear)

  1. I'm so proud by UncleWilly · · Score: 4, Funny

    to be an American

    Next put them in C-130s, or Jeeps, like Rat Patrol.

  2. They're getting smaller every day. by AragornSonOfArathorn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yesterday: 747-mounted laser.
    Today: Truck-mounted laser.
    Tomorrow: Shark-mounted laser.

    --
    sudo eat my shorts
  3. That's great, but... by AdmiralAudio · · Score: 5, Funny

    How soon will we see these being mounted on the heads of ill-tempered seabass?

    1. Re:That's great, but... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

      How the hell can the parent be offtopic?

      Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
      Number Two: Sea Bass.
      Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.
      Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
      Dr. Evil: Are they ill tempered?
      Number Two: Absolutely.
      Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
  4. Damnit! by simp · · Score: 5, Funny

    This government is so incompetent!! Bush screwed up. Again...

    Sharks, I wanted sharks. Is that so difficult?

  5. The adult in me says by the_skywise · · Score: 5, Funny

    Guns of destruction are bad.

    But the kid in me says...

    SA-WEEET!!!!!!

    1. Re:The adult in me says by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

      The kid in me is disappointed that the truck doesn't transform into a humanoid robot with the laser held in its hand like a gun.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  6. Sure... by chaidawg · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...but can it drive a 6 inch spike through a board with its penis?

  7. Oblig. CNC by andrewd18 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck
    Also known as the predecessor to the Mammoth Tank.
  8. So will this be the demise of their ... by PalmKiller · · Score: 4, Funny

    rail gun projects? Nooooo...I think rail guns are way cooler, especially when they malfunction.

  9. Dude... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    After the war, torture, Gitmo, NSA's unwarranted wiretapping and all the other crap that has made me ashamed to be an American, I'm glad that we can even for one brief moment have something cool like this.

    Yeah, sure, we'll probably sad when they end up used to blind baby seals or to violate the Geneva convention (again), but quit ruining the moment, dammit. You made me misread "cherry truck" as "Cheney truck" and I was afraid I'd get zapped in the face by it.

  10. Dual use? by Lurker2288 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Have any trials been done on using the laser to fill a snide professor's house with popcorn? There could be a big market for this among the college crowd.

  11. Re:How do clouds of popcorn change this? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

    All the enemy needs to do is first fire a barrage of Jiffy Pop popcorn. when the laser hits it, the corn pops and rains down on the target. This should be sufficient in preventing the laser from knocking out the REAL rounds, which are fired second.

    So would this be called Jiffy Chaff?

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  12. Quake 3? by Reddragon220 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So the Navy has railguns and the Army now has lasers - the Air force better get quad-damage or else they're going to get pwned.

  13. Fess up by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator project actually shoots stuff

    Who wrote that summary, George Bush?

  14. Re:You are no longer of any use to me by MrNaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's do the math, just coz I'm bored.

    The specific heat capacity of stainless steel is 500j/Kg and from this site I'm going to assume the specific heat capacity of the explosive is the same as "sandy clay" (poor assumption, but this is /. and I can't be bothered doing more research) which is 1381j/Kg.

    Lets assume a 5Kg mortar is 40% propellant, 30% explosive and 30% shell, and that you don't have to heat the propellant. The specific heat capacity of a 2.5Kg object with a 50/50 mix of steel and clay by weight is given by:

    (2.5 / 2) * 0.5(500 + 1381) = 2351.25 Kj/K/Kg

    Lets also say we want to heat the thing from ambient (35 degrees Celcius, coz remember we're in the desers of Iraq) to 100 degrees (I have no idea about explosives, despite the fact that I am a Muslim) in order to detonate it.

    100 - 35 = 65 degree delta

    Assuming that all energy is absorbed evenly, the formula for energy required is:

    e = 65K(delta) * 4.7025 Kj/K/Kg
    = 152.83125 Kj

    Given that watts are a measure of joules per second, assuming you have a quarter of a second "paint time" of the laser on the round, your lazer will need to emit:

    (1/0.25) * 152.83125 Kj
    = 611.325 W

    (Please note: My assumptions are completely bullshit and this figure is probably way off, but it was fun doing them anyway.)

    To put this into perspective, a 20g chocolate biscuit yeilds about 2,200 Kj. So really, forget the billion dollar laser program, just start lobbing chocolate biscuits at your enemy.

    If this post wasn't bizarre enough, if you lob that chocolate biscuit fast enough at your enemny for e = mc^2 to come into play, then that same chocolate biscuit will yield:

    e = 0.02 * (3*10^8)^2
    = 1,800,000,000,000 Kj

    Just sayin'.

    --
    I hate printers.