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Sir Garlon writes:
"According to the Associated Press, the US Navy has announced plans to actually deploy an operational laser weapon aboard the USS Ponce later this year.
The solid-state laser weapon system is designed to target what the Navy describes as 'asymmetrical threats.' Those include aerial drones, speed boats and swarm boats, all potential threats to warships in the Persian Gulf, where the Ponce, a floating staging base, is set to be deployed.
'It fundamentally changes the way we fight,' said Capt. Mike Ziv, program manager for directed energy and electric weapon systems for the Naval Sea Systems Command."
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US Navy Plans to Deploy Laser Weapon
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
TOO BAD YOU CAN'T BUY a voodoo globe so that you could make the earth spin
real fast and freak everybody out.
-- Jack Handey, The New Mexican, 1988.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:34PM
An "assymetrical" threat is one in which the US military has an overwhelming technical and training and material advantage over their opponent. In other words, almost everybody they're seriously contemplating fighting. Think "a few bad guys in a speedboat versus a US destroyer".
Of course, the fact that those few bad guys in a speedboat present no threat whatsoever to the United States itself is irrelevant when discussing this.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JeanCroix on Wednesday February 19 2014, @03:11PM
(Score: 1) by mhajicek on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:31PM
No, it's "There's... Too... Many of them!"
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Informative) by tsqr on Wednesday February 19 2014, @09:24PM
In October, 2000, 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole were killed when a small boat loaded with explosives was detonated against its hull while it was tied up in Aden, Yemen. So yeah, a few guys in a speedboat most definitely can pose a rather serious threat.
(Score: 1) by Thexalon on Wednesday February 19 2014, @11:01PM
So, in the attack on the USS Cole, how many American civilians were at risk? Probably 0. It sucks that some sailors were killed, but risking your life is part of the job description of being in the military.
How many American sailors would have been killed had the USS Cole not been hanging around Yemen? I doubt the guys in the speedboat had the capability of locating the Cole, much less hurting it, had it been somewhere further away.
And how does the Cole being in Yemen improve the safety of citizens halfway around the world?
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by tsqr on Thursday February 20 2014, @03:50PM
Thanks for moving the goalposts, from "Americans" to "American civilians". Naval vessels on deployment typically don't carry very many civilians. But that isn't the point. If you're not familiar with the political geography of the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, I suggest you consult a map. US naval vessels have long been routinely deployed to this area to protect civilian shipping from piracy (usually from Somalia, which just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen).
Of course, if you think that sailors losing their lives in attacks is just a part of their jobs, then you probably also think that merchant seamen shouldn't complain about being attacked by pirates, as it's just part of the job. And should you ever be mugged, you can draw comfort from the fact that it's just part of city life.