Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Apparently the USN has successfully used a shipborne laser gun to ignite the engines of a small craft
some distance away. The funniest part to me is they said that the technnology could be used to
disable small craft attacking a ship.

Derh...so does LEAD, doofi.


"http://news.search.yahoo.com/search?cs=bz&p=Laser+gun&fr=fp-tts-701&fr2=ps

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Yeah, but guns that fire lead don't go "PEW! PEW! PEW!"

:r

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

The laser takes fewer to fire, has very little storage for its "ammo" requirements and is way more accurate in delivery than conventional lead ammo.

Long ago, I was in a meeting at Boeing where an air force general was asking us what it would take to build a field-deployable EMP system. One of the engineers in the room more or less said that it was pretty easy to do, but that it rapidly got very difficult if you didn't want to disable the friendlies.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Adam, you are on a frickin' roll, today. :lr

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Don't encourage him. :r

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Field testing of the gun is found on youtube here.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Haha, yeah, I guess accuracy with no kentucky windage or gravity IS a real benefit.
But lead works well and is a lot cheaper, hahaha.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

But if you target the pirates and they have a burn hole in the forehead, it can be blamed on hostile aliens. Plausible deniability.:D

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

No windage, but atmospheric diffusion, distortion and energy loss had to be overcome. The big guns are fun, but you don't need a 5 inch 35 round to take out those little motorboats the pirates are using.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

I come from the ground forces side of things but could you use something like a dragon to take out the small pirate boats or is the sea too rough for any sort of accuracy?

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Of course, Darren, I was thinking more of Quad 50's maybe......Laser-aimed Vulcan cannon, perhaps.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

the transformer video was nice!

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

I'd like to see the pirates drown at sea with a hole in the boat and leave it at that.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

The Vulcan, on which the CIWS is based, fires 100 20mm rounds per second, IIRC. That would make it more expensive and reduce the likelihood of survivors to interrogate. Besides, there is a definite coolness factor.



"Laser"
http://andrew.hedges.name/blog/asset...evil_laser.jpg

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Quad-50's are so 1958. GAU-19, baby! You might as well stand still, because if you run, you're just going to die tired!

(the problem with the lead solution is that by the time they are in range, you're in range too. )

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

How much extra for the Persian cat?

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

:r :r :r :r

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

The Navy can shoot down a satellite traveling at 17,000 mph, 300 miles straight up from the rolling and pitching decks of a Destroyer; accuracy isn't a problem, range is. If a target is within range of a man-portable Dragon, so are you. Ideally, you want to engage a target while you are still out of range of his weapons.

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time
 

Re: Navy fires Laser Gun for the first time