Slashdot Mirror
US Congress Funds Laser Weapons
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports that the US Congress is funding laser weapons for use in the near future. Low-power lasers called 'dazzlers' are already being used in Iraq to temporarily reduce a person's vision. High-power laser weapons would allow precision attacks that minimize civilian casualties. From the Post: 'The science board said tactical laser systems could be developed for broader use because they "enable precision ground attack to minimize collateral damage in urban conflicts." The report suggested, for example, that "future gunships could provide extended precision lethality and sensing." The board also proposed using lasers to protect against rockets, artillery, mortars and unmanned airborne vehicles by blasting them out of the sky. Last month, the Army awarded Boeing $36 million to continue development of a high-energy laser mounted on a truck that could hit overhead targets. But deployment is not expected until 2016, even if all goes well.'"
All shark jokes go here!
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Come on, you know the battlefields of the future are going to look like a 1980's G.I. Joe cartoon. Hilarious. Wait... Not really hilarious...
My humor is probably your flamebait
It stuck once they started deploying these into combat zones.
If your theory is different from practice, then your theory is wrong.
Great, now mirrors will be renamed to "Improvised Reflective Devices"
It's going to take a Real Genius to get this right. I do hope they make sure their optics are clean.
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
A printing press and/or an entry into a spreadsheet.
If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
Whatever the hell it is, just blast it out of the frikkin sky!!!
You'll get idiots like these running around with laser weapons.
And what about this kind of idiots ? Do you really want them to be able to buy lasers over the counter ?!?
Gun crazy private militia has always frightened me. As if these idiots didn't have a big enough aresenal you want to add lasers to their tool belt ?
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Even if its just for show, I hope they have a "stun" setting.
For a North Korean, your English is pretty good. Good luck with your reforms.