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posted by n1 on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the another-settlement-needs-our-help dept.

The toy-like drones destroyed during an Army field exercise at Fort Sill, Okla., last month weren't anything special; however, the way they were brought down -- zapped out of the sky by lasers mounted on a Stryker armored vehicle -- might grab people's attention.

The first soldier to try out the lasers was Spc. Brandon Sallaway, a forward observer with the 4th Infantry Division. He used a Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser to shoot down an 18-by-10-inch drone at 650 yards, an Army statement said.

"It's nothing too complicated but you have to learn how to operate each system and get used to the controls which is exactly like a video game controller," said Sallaway, who hadn't fired a laser before the exercise.

The drone-killing laser was relatively low energy -- only 5 kilowatts -- but the Army has tested much more powerful weapons. A 30-kilowatt truck-mounted High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator shot down dozens of mortar rounds and several drones in November 2013 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

Since then, researchers have made rapid advances in laser weapons, said Bob Ruszkowski, who works on air dominance projects and unmanned systems in Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works facility.

"We're really on the cusp of seeing the introduction of lasers in future systems," he said.

Which do you prefer, lasers or plasma weapons?


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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 31 2017, @04:14PM (12 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 31 2017, @04:14PM (#518352) Journal

    Which do you prefer, lasers or plasma weapons?

    High energy impactor weapons, causing highly ionized plasma on impact with a humongous power picosecond X-ray laser effect developing in that plasma.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:03PM (7 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:03PM (#518376)

    I want my laser gun to have recoil.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:15PM (5 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:15PM (#518384) Journal

      I want my laser gun to have recoil.

      Any directional weapon has recoil.
      If you however mean "same recoil as a shotgun"... oh, shit... (ducks for cover behind a tungsten rich asteroid, polished to a highly reflective surface)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:35PM (4 children)

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:35PM (#518390)

        Back of the enveloppe math says the a 5kW laser firing 200ms is 1kJ. Counting losses, that about the same energy as a .45 ACP or 9x19 parabellum, but over a much longer period. Not quite sure what it feels like.
        I need the 30kW Akira-style bazooka, so the shots can be shorter, and provide that finality that the recoil gives when you pull the trigger. Even video games strive to provide audio/visual feedback for single-shot weapons, however exotic they may be. It's an expected part of the process of hurting someone, that a gentle pressure on the shoulder ain't gonna replace.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Wednesday May 31 2017, @06:57PM (3 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 31 2017, @06:57PM (#518445) Journal

          The recoil comes from the impulse transfer (over time). A shotgun has a typical muzzle velocity of 500m/s with a slug of 28g - about 14 kg*m/s impulse (and around 4200J kinetic energy).

          Now, with light the energy is m*c2. Computing the "equivalent mass" for a 14kg*m/s impulse for light (using impulse=m*c) and multiplying it back with c2 to get the energy, one comes to a value of 14*3*108J = 4.2 * 109J = 4.2 TJ - that's pretty close to the value of 1 ton of TNT to produce a light impulse similar to a shotgun slug.

          Of course, the above is 'ngineering masturbation, the kick of the recoil should be expressed in terms of force in both cases.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday June 01 2017, @02:00PM (2 children)

            by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday June 01 2017, @02:00PM (#518851) Homepage
            m is 0 for a photon, you can't just multiply that by c^2 to get its energy. In fact, I cannot see how to perform this calculation without using h and the frequency, and you've not used either of those. However, I'm sure the recoil of kW lasers is tiny, orders of magnitude smaller than any firearm, and probably even insignificant compared to the force of the thermal expansion caused by firing the weapon.
            --
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            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday June 01 2017, @09:54PM (1 child)

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 01 2017, @09:54PM (#519057) Journal

              Actually, the E = p*c (p - impulse or momentum) relation holds true for massless particles.
              See here [wikipedia.org] (read the "Special cases of the relation (1)").

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday June 02 2017, @10:52AM

                by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Friday June 02 2017, @10:52AM (#519297) Homepage
                Good call! That explains why the ballpark figure I had in my head matched yours so well!
                --
                Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 31 2017, @09:50PM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday May 31 2017, @09:50PM (#518527)

      You may prefer a phaser then (includes a particle beam).

      The phaser rifles in "The Menagerie" (Star Trek's first-ish episode) looked like they should have a pretty good kickback, but the actors failed to portray it very convincingly.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:56PM (#518408)

    Plasma weapons are superior. Laser Sword is only +58 attack, whereas Plasma Sword is +70 attack.

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 31 2017, @09:45PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday May 31 2017, @09:45PM (#518525)

    >Which do you prefer, lasers or plasma weapons?

    >High energy impactor weapons, causing highly ionized plasma on impact with a humongous power picosecond X-ray laser effect developing in that plasma.

    Wouldn't you rather just release a micro black hole on the target, timed to evaporate (explode) upon arrival?

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday June 01 2017, @01:38PM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday June 01 2017, @01:38PM (#518845) Homepage
    Certainly sir, I presume you'll be taking the shark-mounted model?
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves