madmacmo
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US Navy May Deploy Laser Cannons Within Just Four Years
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Published on RT.com
31 March, 2012, 16:44
Burning Beam Target: Us Navy May Deploy Lasers in Four Years
Edit:
Published on Wired.com - the same announcement with a bit more/different info
By Spencer Ackerman | March 30, 2012 | 4:30 pm
Navy: We're 4 Years Away From Laser Guns on Ships | Danger Room | Wired.com
This US Navy photo shows how members of the Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems Program Office, of Naval Sea Systems Command, fire a laser through a beam director (AFP Photo / US NAVY / Handout)
Quote:
The US Navy hopes to have operational laser cannons on their ships within the next four years. They will be used against fast-moving targets like cruise missiles, speedboats and drones.
The Navy hopes to have a working prototype for the futuristic laser weapon within two years, Wired reports
Quote:
The development comes after the Navy decided laser weapons technology is mature enough for deployment. The tipping point was last April’s test of a 15-kilowatt beam solid state laser, which managed to set afire the target ship’s engine. The target was moving at a distance of almost 2 km from the laser-equipped destroyer.
Quote:
It’s not clear how ONR’s proceeding with a relatively low-power laser will affect research of a more powerful megawatt-scale weapon under the Free Electro Laser project. The Navy hopes to develop a more powerful scalable weapon using magnets rather than a crystal as the gain medium. It could be used against heavily-armored vessels as opposed to unarmored aircraft and boats.
Quote:
Futuristic laser weapons are not the only ones the US Navy hopes to deploy. In February, ONR announced it had started testing for the first industry prototype of an electromagnetic railgun launcher. The weapon uses powerful magnetic fields to accelerate a conductive projectile to speeds of thousands of meters per second – enough to throw it hundreds of kilometers.
________________________________________
Published on RT.com
31 March, 2012, 16:44
Burning Beam Target: Us Navy May Deploy Lasers in Four Years
Edit:
Published on Wired.com - the same announcement with a bit more/different info
By Spencer Ackerman | March 30, 2012 | 4:30 pm
Navy: We're 4 Years Away From Laser Guns on Ships | Danger Room | Wired.com
This US Navy photo shows how members of the Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems Program Office, of Naval Sea Systems Command, fire a laser through a beam director (AFP Photo / US NAVY / Handout)
Quote:
The US Navy hopes to have operational laser cannons on their ships within the next four years. They will be used against fast-moving targets like cruise missiles, speedboats and drones.
The Navy hopes to have a working prototype for the futuristic laser weapon within two years, Wired reports
Quote:
The development comes after the Navy decided laser weapons technology is mature enough for deployment. The tipping point was last April’s test of a 15-kilowatt beam solid state laser, which managed to set afire the target ship’s engine. The target was moving at a distance of almost 2 km from the laser-equipped destroyer.
Quote:
It’s not clear how ONR’s proceeding with a relatively low-power laser will affect research of a more powerful megawatt-scale weapon under the Free Electro Laser project. The Navy hopes to develop a more powerful scalable weapon using magnets rather than a crystal as the gain medium. It could be used against heavily-armored vessels as opposed to unarmored aircraft and boats.
Quote:
Futuristic laser weapons are not the only ones the US Navy hopes to deploy. In February, ONR announced it had started testing for the first industry prototype of an electromagnetic railgun launcher. The weapon uses powerful magnetic fields to accelerate a conductive projectile to speeds of thousands of meters per second – enough to throw it hundreds of kilometers.
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