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High-Energy Laser Effector Tested On German Warship (upi.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the show-of-force dept.

Rheinmetall and the German armed forces have completed a recent test of their high-energy laser effector on a German warship. During the test, a 10-kilowatt high-energy laser, or HEL, was mounted on a MLG 27 light naval gun. The HEL was then used to track potential targets, which included unmanned aerial vehicles and stationary land targets. The test marked the first demonstration of the HEL on a naval platform, which Rheinmetall says revealed insights for developing future maritime HEL effectors.

31 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Not as exciting as it sounds by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    High-Energy Laser Effector Tested On German Warship

    That is to say, it was on a German warship when it was tested. They didn't melt a German warship with a laser, which would have been way cooler.

    I don't know if they even melted anything. All it says is that they tracked stuff with it.

    And what's the difference between a laser and a laser effector?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Even worse. It isn't a laser at all. It is tracking device that could be used for a laser.

    2. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by Tx · · Score: 2

      And what's the difference between a laser and a laser effector?

      I was wondering this myself. I can't immediately find a definition of the term, but it seems to be common parlance in defence circles. I would guess that it is used to differentiate laser weapons from lasers used for targeting etc, a laser effector being one that "has an effect" on the target, beyond simply illuminating it. But I could be wrong.

      --
      Oh no... it's the future.
    3. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by Tx · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's not just a tracking device; it appears that it was only used to track the targets in this instance, but that doesn't mean that that's all it can do. Have a look at this page on the Rheinmetall HEL systems; these are definitely weapons. A 10kW system isn't covered there, but there is a 5kW system;

      In the 5kW laser category, the M113 Mobile HEL Effector Track V demonstrated its operational potential for disposing of unexploded ordnance and clearing battlefield obstacles. Without having to exit the vehicle’s protected fighting compartment, the crew detected mines and improvised explosive devices, irradiating them with the laser from a safe distance, which caused them to deflagrate in a matter of seconds. Afterwards the laser weapon successfully cleared a barbed wire obstacle at a distance of approximately 70 metres.

      So there's no way you need a 10kW for tracking; anything far enough away that you need a 10kW laser to track it would be way out of range of your guns. 10kW should be good for taking out UAVs etc, the kind of targets TFA says it was tracking during this test.

      --
      Oh no... it's the future.
    4. Re: Not as exciting as it sounds by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

      And it certainly isn't novel or newsworthy. Many countries have been developing HEL weapons for decades.

      The "first" was a country taking the system off its testbed and calling newspapers to show it off.

      --
      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    5. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

      Who cares. It certainly looks like a badass laser cannon. 8)

    6. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      They are using the laser instead of radar to track the target, the laser isn't strong enough to melt it.

    7. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It also sounds overpowered for its intended purposes. Not that I know a significant amount about tracking objects at doezens of km.

      That being said, 1W of pulsed laser energy is sufficent to start ablating material at focus. So it could just easily be the writer misunderstanding the fundamentals of laser physics and that average power is not the same as peak power. 1uJ ns pulses @ 1Mhz != 1uJ/ns, 1W vs. 1kW.

    8. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by BeauHD · · Score: 1

      The feeling is mutual... I had to re-read the article/title a couple times to get the facts straight.

      I'm expecting the Germans to follow-up with an actual test on a German warship in a time-lapse video -- it needs to happen.

    9. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

      At least it was the peaceful and fun loving Germans who have it and not some trouble making nation.

      --
      I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    10. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      So there's no way you need a 10kW for tracking; anything far enough away that you need a 10kW laser to track it would be way out of range of your guns.

      Railguns!

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    11. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by Threni · · Score: 1

      > So there's no way you need a 10kW for tracking; anything far enough away that you need a 10kW laser to track
      > it would be way out of range of your guns.

      Tracking it to provide accurate location data to troops, drones, missiles, ships etc nearer it, or which may eventually be nearer to it?

    12. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      (facepalm) it i a 10kw laser ... did you actually even read the summary?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    13. Re:Not as exciting as it sounds by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Meh, who cares, the more modern your military becomes the more susceptible it becomes. So stuff like stealth has now become all fashioned because it can not actually hide anything more through the air fast because you can not hide that movement of air and changes in water vapour density. So the big switch from hiding to blinding takes place. How do you shut how high tech gear, the electro magnetic pulse. So get your fighter bomber, tweak the front turbine blades so as they spin they generate scads of electricity which you then pulse out. You can not both receive a signal and block emp at the same time. So your flight of bright light(blindingly bright light) fighter bombers flies shield (all receivers blocked and shut down) in emp and everyone else in the flight path is shut down. Mark 1 eyeball becomes the rule of the day. Even bigger problem down goes IFF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... goes down, now good luck with that. So not only do you shut down anything not protected creating total chaos along the flight path, even protected devices will be prevented from running until you stop pulsing (they can still be destroyed by build up of static charge) and you can no longer tell friend from foe, they all become enemies. You of course have to be fully shielded, only receivers hard blocked from your own emp and fly by inertial guidance, in a somewhat more primitive non-fly by wire plane and use shielded weapons laser guided only bombs not missiles.

      The more modern, the more readily you can induce chaos by fucking with data flow and the more vulnerable they become. Honestly the way it is now, the US can only fight those who are largely unarmed and only for as long as the focus doesn't shifting to mass jamming technological devices through sustained electro magnetic pulses (not one but tens even hundreds of thousands emps over days and weeks or 'meh' until the war is over).

      The new winner is who forces the either side back to mark 1 eye ball with any weapon systems still left functional.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  2. lack of details by slashping · · Score: 1

    Should we interpret the lack of details as a failure ?

    1. Re:lack of details by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Se...the lack of details is an editorial failure?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  3. Thank God... by Skiron · · Score: 1

    .. it wasn't a British warship - I don't want to relive 1939 and all that again.

  4. Effector by rossdee · · Score: 1

    WTF is an effector?

    I dont speak german

    1. Re:Effector by meerling · · Score: 1

      Somebody having fun with a thesaurus.

    2. Re:Effector by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      WTF is an effector?

      I dont speak german

      Something causing an effect. I am guessing the "laser".

      Also, miltary speak for something cool and futuristic.

  5. What'd the Germans do to piss off the sharks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They must have done something to get one of their warships melted.

  6. Unemployment rates by Livius · · Score: 1

    Clearly this kind of technological advance end up taking frickin' laser jobs away from sharks.

  7. Semantics by rainwalker · · Score: 1

    It was tested while *mounted on* a German warship, not not tested *upon* a German ship. One of those readings is significantly less ominous!

  8. No popcorn? by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 1

    I was hoping to sit back and have German laser popped popcorn.

    --
    Fight Spammers!
  9. Re:Not rolling as much as googleclippers think by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    They didn't melt a German warship with a laser, which would have been way cooler.

    Oh come one, forgive and forget. It's been 70 years since Pearl Harbor.

    I mean that's nearly as long ago as Bunker fucking Hill and Bannockburrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn, and nobody at all ever goes on about those, do they?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  10. German Warship fires High-Energy Laser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Better headline: "German Warship fires High-Energy Laser"

    1. Re:German Warship fires High-Energy Laser by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or if it was in The Sun: Hun boat shoots sun bolt.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:German Warship fires High-Energy Laser by bittmann · · Score: 1

      Or The Reg: Kraut Craft Conveys Coherent Cannon

  11. No video? Lame. by mfearby · · Score: 1

    You can't post stories about "lasers" and NOT post a link to a video!!! There are none linked from the article itself, either. Tease!

  12. Nazi Death Rays!!! by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 1

    I've seen that movie...........

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
  13. Re:laser effector by bentcd · · Score: 1

    Effector is military speak for weapon system. What they are saying here is that this is not just the standard sort of laser range finder or tracker that the military has been using for ages, but it's a weaponized laser system.

    --
    sigs are hazardous to your health