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Officials from the armed forces and U.S. legislators expect wider use of directed energy weapons such as lasers and microwaves soon:
The officials described weapons that are in various stages of development and testing by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army, but said more work was needed to develop tactics for their use and to ensure sufficient funding. "Directed energy brings the dawn of an entirely new era in defense," Lieutenant General William Etter, Commander, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, told a conference hosted by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment in Washington.
Directed energy refers to weapons that emit focused energy in the form of lasers, microwaves, electromagnetic radiation, radio waves, sound or particle beams. Etter and other officials said such weapons could lower the cost of current weapons, speed up responses to enemy attacks and cut deaths of civilians in the battlefield, but tough policy questions remained about their deployment.
[Navy Secretary Ray] Mabus said the Navy was extending deployment of the laser on the Ponce, and using lessons learned to help produce a 100-150 kilowatt laser prototype for testing at sea in 2018 or sooner. He said a powerful new railgun that could hit targets 100 miles away would also be tested at sea next year. A railgun is an electrically powered electromagnetic projectile launcher. He said the Navy would release a comprehensive road map this fall for developing, acquiring and fielding high-power radio frequency weapons, lasers and directed energy countermeasures.
More info at NextBigFuture, including the laser power needed to affect various targets and a 2011 U.S. Navy roadmap for shipboard lasers.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday July 29 2015, @10:41AM
U.S. Military Increasing Development of Directed Energy Weapons
Don't bullets qualify for that category too?
the Navy was extending deployment of the laser on the Ponce
That would be the USS Ponce, in case you thought something else [urbandictionary.com].
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2015, @12:09PM
I think the only weapons that don't qualify are bombs.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday July 29 2015, @12:44PM
You still direct them to the location where they then explode (in all directions). Usually, but not always, by dropping them out of a plane.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday July 29 2015, @04:06PM
By that broad definition so too is a crossbow bolt or sling bullet a "directed energy weapon." That the energy being directed comes from muscles is irrelevant, eh?
What is the definition of a failure for a wonk, when he becomes ridiculously reductive or when he blurs meaningful categories? A laser is not the same thing as a bullet, just as a bullet is not the same thing as an arrow, but let's get cute and pretend they are?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday July 30 2015, @08:31AM
Happily, this was still in my paste buffer from a recent use:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xECUrlnXCqk [youtube.com]
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by iwoloschin on Wednesday July 29 2015, @12:54PM
Don't bullets qualify for that category too?
Technically, yes, I suppose, but I think the defining factor of "Directed Energy Weapons" for the purposes of this conversation are weapons that have a continuous stream of fire from the weapon muzzle to the target, and travel at the speed of light. Also, there's probably some UN law or something that requires them to make "pew pew pew" noises to alert innocent civilians about nearby fighting.
(Score: 2) by CoolHand on Wednesday July 29 2015, @03:12PM
LOL... I'm just outta mod points, or I'd give you a +1 funny for that.. :)
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday July 29 2015, @06:40PM
From the summary:
Neither sound nor particle beams travel with the speed of light. Indeed, sound travels even slower than bullets, and a machine gun definitely emits a continuous stream of fire from the weapon muzzle to the target.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Wednesday July 29 2015, @12:59PM
Don't bullets qualify [as directed-energy weapons] too?
no. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday July 29 2015, @04:50PM
A certain Albert E. would beg to differ.