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Laser Takes Out Truck Engine From a Mile Away

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-it-needs-is-an-orbital-targeting-platform-and-we-can-make-popcorn dept.

MutualFun (1730480) writes Aerospace company Lockheed Martin has used a laser to obliterate the engine of a small truck from more than a mile away. (Finally, Star Wars is making a comeback!) The company says, "The demonstration marked the first field testing of an integrated 30-kilowatt, single-mode fiber laser weapon system prototype. Through a technique called spectral beam combining, multiple fiber laser modules form a single, powerful, high-quality beam that provides greater efficiency and lethality than multiple individual 10-kilowatt lasers used in other systems."

5 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Re:how much it took by pr0fessor · · Score: 3, Informative

    The article said "The ground-based laser prototype burned through the engine manifold of a mounted truck in mere seconds." so at least two seconds and less than a minute, but you are correct the longer it takes the less practical it would be to use it against a moving target.

  2. Re:how much it took by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Informative

    Paint it white (specifically, something with high albedo in whatever frequency range the attacker favors) and you can probably increase that time by a factor of ten.

    Well won't you be embarrassed when you actually click on the article and note the color of the target vehicle.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  3. Re:how much it took by afidel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Even near perfect mirroring makes damn near zero difference to a cutting laser so I doubt this attack laser would be any different.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  4. Re:how much it took by rossdee · · Score: 2, Informative

    " a plane that can only do one thing under specific circumstances."

    But it is the best at doing that one thing , and that one thing (supporting ground troops) is something that we still need to do in the esrs we are hoing to be fighting (against ISIS and Al Qaeda who do not have an air force.) we don't need fast, stealthy fighters like the F35 aginst terrorists.

    And we are not going to be fighting a conventional war against China or Russia where we would need the F35.

  5. Re:how much it took by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 3, Informative

    The reality is that the Air Force, Army, and Marines want the A-10 kept alive

    You should talk to the Secretary of the Air Force. They're saying otherwise.

    http://thehill.com/policy/defense/213844-ayotte-rips-air-force-for-defending-a-10-retirement