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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."

3 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. One million dollars by danbert8 · · Score: 5, Funny

    But can they be mounted on sharks? That is the real question...

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    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  2. Terminator at gun shop... by tekrat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Terminator: Phased plasma rifle in the 50-watt range.
    Owner: Hey, just what you see here pal!
    Terminator : Uzi 9 millimeter
    Owner: You really know your guns, this baby is perfect for home defense....

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    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  3. 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.

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    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black