Many Lasers Become One In Lockheed Martin's 30 kW Laser Weapon

Zothecula writes "In another step forward for laser weapons that brings to mind the Death Star's superlaser, Lockheed Martin has demonstrated a 30-kilowatt fiber laser produced by combining many lasers into a single beam of light. According to the company, this is the highest power laser yet that was still able to maintain beam quality and electrical efficiency, paving the way for a laser weapon system suitable, if not for a Death Star, for a wide range of air, land, and sea military platforms."

Comments

Please place all shark jokes in this thread.

[SuricouRaven]

Lets keep them in one place, nice and tidy.

Re:Please place all shark jokes in this thread.

[Trogre]

Combing many lasers into one?

This isn't sharks, this is a DEATH STAR.

Unfitting. No use case. ROI = 0.

[vikingpower]

Does it not seem most unfitting for a state which, though pridening itself in its alleged openness and democratic nature, can only keep itself afloat by a debt-raising mechanism, and by printing money, as well as for a state where a substantial portion of its citizens live in deepest poverty ( not to speak of their virtual illiteracy ) to develop weapons no one ever asked for ?

Re:Newtonian physics and ballistics don't apply!

[Sockatume]

So your example of a nice, predictable weapon is a stream of bullets subject to gravity and wind, or a self-guided package of explosives, while your idea of unpredictability is a collimated beam of photons.

Sweet deus.