Military Working On Laser Powered Drones

disco_tracy writes "Modern militaries depend on fuel. Nearly 80 percent of the supplies delivered to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan consist of fuel, and it's no surprise that those military convoys are frequently the targets of insurgents. In the last decade, 1000 soldiers have died delivering gasoline to military operations. A new approach using lasers could provide power to drones in flight or to machines on the ground and remove the need for gas deliveries to army bases."

Comments

so where does the laser power come from ?

[RichMan]

"remove the need for gas deliveries to army bases", so where does the laser power sent to the drones come from ?

Or are we going to aim big orbital lasers at the army bases? That sounds like a good idea.

Also a dispersive light beam as described is not going to be efficient. R^2 losses on defocusing and all that. So more power needed at the base to send up to the drones.

Re:so where does the laser power come from ?

[cruff]

"remove the need for gas deliveries to army bases", so where does the laser power sent to the drones come from ?

Sharks, obviously.

Re:so where does the laser power come from ?

[ShanghaiBill]

so where does the laser power sent to the drones come from ?

From coal fired generators. Afghanistan has plenty of coal. Another option is solar arrays. Afghanistan also has plenty of sunshine.

So more power needed at the base to send up to the drones.

Probably not, since you don't have the weight of the fuel on the plane. Besides, coal/sunshine is orders of magnitude cheaper than aviation fuel. Plus you get much longer loiter time.

Re:so where does the laser power come from ?

[benjamindees]

It's simple. First you invade. Then you dig a coal mine. Then you build a power plant. Then come the lasers and the flying drones. After that, you win the war.

It's all very energy efficient. We just need six more months, honest.

Re:so where does the laser power come from ?

[blindseer]

so where does the laser power sent to the drones come from ?

From coal fired generators. Afghanistan has plenty of coal. Another option is solar arrays. Afghanistan also has plenty of sunshine.

I was thinking more along the lines of a nuclear reactor. It's no secret that the military has been working on nuclear power plants that will fit inside a 40 foot ISO container. I don't know how much power one of these reactors can produce but it seems that the military has no shortage of trucks to keep bringing in fuel. Instead of bringing in fuel they can keep stacking up nuclear power plants until they have enough to meet their power needs.

I'm sure someone will consider these reactors a "proliferation" risk but they can be fueled with material that is worthless for nuclear weapons production. I believe there are thorium reactor designs that can be scaled down to where they can fit in a standard ISO container.

These reactors will be very expensive to build, at least at first, but there is considerable cost in fuel as well. I'm sure someone is working out the math right now in the DoD.

Vaporware meets line of sight.

[azop]

Sounds like vaporware, which works out well for the government. They will spent zillions of dollars to find out, crap, it doesn't work. Lasers can't bend very well, so you need line of sight. Then, I have to ask, what powers the laser? Hell, I have a great idea on making a perpetual motion device. Okay, not really, but I might, and I'll gladly accept zillion of dollars to prove to you that it doesn't work.

Distortion of statistics

[BitZtream]

In the last decade, 1000 soldiers have died delivering gasoline to military operations.

And how many of those thousands were during combat operations? Less than 100. Distort things much? You're still going to need to get fuel to the laser so it can power the drone ... unless you think its just going to run on sunshine and rainbows?

Most fuel accidents happen no where near combat zones due to people being slack. Tensions in combat zones and natural selection tend to keep things actually safer in that respect.

As with most things related to the military, some idiot gets a number, then goes completely doom and gloom, and suddenly OMFG WE GOTTA STOP THAT!

Let me tell you what the lazier based solution does ... gives them something to see in order to know A) Where the object needing fuel is located at as its being fueld and ... B) The location of the refueling system. Invisible laser you say? Doesn't exist. You may not see it with the naked eye, but it'll have enough interference in the atmosphere to leave a detectable effect regardless of wavelength if it has enough energy to provide power to a drone over any sort of distance. Put on the right goggles and it'll shine for you, then you shot down the drown and mortor the refueling point. As they say in Counter Strike ... Terrorist win.

Note: I as expected, did not read the actual article, just the summary. Its more fun that way.

Re:Distortion of statistics

[geekoid]

" unless you think its just going to run on sunshine and rainbows?"
Kinda:
Sunshine
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/us-military-brings-solar-power-to-its-front-lines/4321
http://www.military-solar-power.com/
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/military-products/military-products.php

AS for rainbows, they could use the drug crops and turn it into biofuels.

I person is killed form enemy action for every 24 convoys. So, yea 1000 killed due to enemy action sounds about right.

"As with most things related to the military, some idiot gets a number, then goes completely doom and gloom, and suddenly OMFG WE GOTTA STOP THAT!
As with most thing in the military, it did not happen that way.

"As they say in Counter Strike .
ah, I see. Your military/logistics experience comes from a kids game,how cute.

"Note: I as expected, did not read the actual article, just the summary. Its more fun that way."
I have no idea why someone finds it fun to be completely wrong.

Re:Gasoline?

[couchslug]

No shit. Most drones and aircraft run on JP-8 jet fuel, which is also a substitute for diesel.

Re:Gasoline?

[Joce640k]

I thought all that gas was used for air conditioning.

a) I can't imagine drones account for much gas
b) With lasers drone will be limited to line-of-sight
c) Laser power will require *much* more energy than gas, where will the power for the lasers come from?
d) It's a crap idea which will never work

Another fine example of military pork spending.

If you want to save lives, why not just send everybody home?

In the last decade

[nimbius]

'1000 soldiers have died delivering gasoline to military operations.'

if you think thats bad, check out the death toll related to soldiers trying to deliver gasoline to the united states.
I cant see lasers helping us anytime soon.

Re:In the last decade

[geekoid]

we don't get oil from the mid-east. Unless there is some action going in in Canada I'm not aware of?

Re:Gasoline?

[derGoldstein]

c) Laser power will require *much* more energy than gas, where will the power for the lasers come from?

What I'm wondering is how much energy is lost on the way. Also, how does weather effect this system?
This might be useful for UAVs that are always close to base, possibly on a repeating patrol pattern. But even then: "David Graham is CEO of Powerbeam, a company that uses a similar technology to deliver small amounts of power to home appliances. He says the advantages of powering a UAV via a beam are lost because of the distances involved"

It's interesting technology, but this doesn't seem to be the ideal application.