Laser Cannons are here

[FreewayofFlight 41]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/09/us-navy-laser-cannon-planes

 

The future is upon us, the US Navy is experimenting with laser cannons. You think we can handle this new weapon?

[Duke87 1,070]

Everything is cooler with lasers.

[LexusInfernus 908]

What use is a cannon that can't fire when there is to much dust or water vapor in the air around it? It basically means airplanes can't be hit if they fly above a cloud.

 

Id be more impressed if they finally get that rail gun they've been testing working. 

[KonstantinII 1,106]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/09/us-navy-laser-cannon-planes

 

The future is upon us, the US Navy is experimenting with laser cannons. You think we can handle this new weapon?

Yikes! Duck for cover!

[Bdub01 201]

What use is a cannon that can't fire when there is to much dust or water vapor in the air around it? It basically means airplanes can't be hit if they fly above a cloud.

Id be more impressed if they finally get that rail gun they've been testing working.

It's great they are trying new things but what's the point if it has to be perfect weather to fire the weapon? Make it work accurately in rain, snow, fog, sleet, and smoke, then that would be cool. The USPS delivers mail in those conditions at least .

[Easy Bakes 253]

 

What use is a cannon that can't fire when there is to much dust or water vapor in the air around it? It basically means airplanes can't be hit if they fly above a cloud.

Id be more impressed if they finally get that rail gun they've been testing working.

It's great they are trying new things but what's the point if it has to be perfect weather to fire the weapon? Make it work accurately in rain, snow, fog, sleet, and smoke, then that would be cool. The USPS delivers mail in those conditions at least .

 

its light you cant make it pass thru water vapor with out dispersing

[Cobraroll 138]

On the other hand, under most conditions on Earth, lasers will hit whatever they are aimed at. The time between trigger squeeze and impact on target is practically zero. The beam is also invisible until it hits something.

 

A one-megajoule laser pulse carries the same energy as a couple hundre grams of high explosives, and has the same basic effect on a target. Forget the slow-moving light bubbles of Star Wars, real lasers look more like an explosion suddenly coming out of nowhere. Of the laser is weaker, but used continually, it will look mostly like a welding flame. An incredibly bright light appearing on the target surface, melting its way through it. Of course, evaporated target material will eventually obstruct the beam and thus diminish its effect.

 

It's also a lot cheaper to fire a laser than a missile when shooting down incoming rockets or aircraft. I believe that eventually, we'll have lasers capable of shooting down artillery and mortar shells on the battlefield as well.

 

All in all, laser weapons are a step up if we can get them to work properly. I think ways will be found around the problem with clouds.

[Kiiroitori 55]

Hmm well lets hope it won't be used as a weapon of 'mass destruction' (which is least likely, but u never know). But , the concept of a laser canon is rather awesome and cool tho. 

[Wiimeiser 434]

What's the effective range, might I ask?

[LexusInfernus 908]

I think such laser weaponry has better uses once we go fight our wars out in space. Not a lot of stuff there that can refract a laser beam. 

[hym 358]

What's the effective range, might I ask?

 

The effective range is probably classified.  In general, the US Air Force and Navy very much dislike talking about the technical capabilities of their weapons systems.  There are some separate Navy studies on laser weaponry that suggest an effective range of 1-2km, but they are also studying a different weapon system for a different application.

 

I think such laser weaponry has better uses once we go fight our wars out in space. Not a lot of stuff there that can refract a laser beam. 

 

I suspect it has less to do with using the laser as an offensive weapon and more as a defensive weapon.  A ship defense system that is highly reliable, offers high uptime, low running and maintenance costs, high lethality, and is non-dodgeable is the perfect replacement for the Navy's Phalanx CIWS.  The Phalanx is a powerful anti-missile defense system, except that it offers about 90 seconds of run time every 2 hours.  

 

As things currently stand, the US Navy operates the world's most powerful "blue-water navy," which is of significant benefit to the US, as it gives America the ability to project military power effectively anywhere in the world.  The one fly in the ointment is that "brown water" combat capabilities are expected to become more important in the coming years, and this is a significant weakness of the US Navy.  Blue water navies can be very vulnerable to land-based sea defenses, and brown water operations are where they are typically most vulnerable.  Traditionally, blue water naval forces mitigate this risk by keeping their distance and relying on superior firepower, but that is an undesirable solution at best.  Hence the US Navy's desire for superior ship defenses.  With a sufficiently advanced and capable ship defense system, that could well be composed of laser cannons, blue water ships can perform brown water operations with impunity.  In the world of naval warfare, this would be a game changer scenario.  As a result, the Navy is spending quite a bit of money to build ships that can effectively operate in both types of water, along with significant R&D money to develop weapons to keep those ships safe.

[LexusInfernus 908]

I suspect it has less to do with using the laser as an offensive weapon and more as a defensive weapon.  A ship defense system that is highly reliable, offers high uptime, low running and maintenance costs, high lethality, and is non-dodgeable is the perfect replacement for the Navy's Phalanx CIWS.  The Phalanx is a powerful anti-missile defense system, except that it offers about 90 seconds of run time every 2 hours.  

 

As things currently stand, the US Navy operates the world's most powerful "blue-water navy," which is of significant benefit to the US, as it gives America the ability to project military power effectively anywhere in the world.  The one fly in the ointment is that "brown water" combat capabilities are expected to become more important in the coming years, and this is a significant weakness of the US Navy.  Blue water navies can be very vulnerable to land-based sea defenses, and brown water operations are where they are typically most vulnerable.  Traditionally, blue water naval forces mitigate this risk by keeping their distance and relying on superior firepower, but that is an undesirable solution at best.  Hence the US Navy's desire for superior ship defenses.  With a sufficiently advanced and capable ship defense system, that could well be composed of laser cannons, blue water ships can perform brown water operations with impunity.  In the world of naval warfare, this would be a game changer scenario.  As a result, the Navy is spending quite a bit of money to build ships that can effectively operate in both types of water, along with significant R&D money to develop weapons to keep those ships safe.

 

 

The US currently has the world's most powerful "blue-water navy," but the US Navy recognizes that "brown water" operations are going to be more critical in the future, and that brown water operations are a vulnerability of even the most powerful blue water ships.  One of the Navy's key values is that it gives the US the ability to project military power virtually anywhere in the world.

 

Effective land based sea defense weapons costs tons of money. Only a few rich country can effectively afford them. So it means the US does not have total naval dominance over say...China or Russia. And even then it only means that the US can't get to close to the Chinese coast. These are also the countries that are the least likely countries where the US will go to war against. So one can wonder whether such a defense system is all that useful. It can shoot down missiles, which are never used and it can only do that when there isn't a cloud that floats in the way. The idea of a laser is sexy, but right now its still a worthless weapon. 

 

That said, put one on say...a space shuttle and you have one of the most offensive weapons ever. You can basically melt enemy communication satellites right out of the sky. Or use it to destroy incoming Chinese anti satellite missiles. 

[hym 358]

Effective land based sea defense weapons costs tons of money. Only a few rich country can effectively afford them. So it means the US does not have total naval dominance over say...China or Russia. And even then it only means that the US can't get to close to the Chinese coast. These are also the countries that are the least likely countries where the US will go to war against. So one can wonder whether such a defense system is all that useful. It can shoot down missiles, which are never used and it can only do that when there isn't a cloud that floats in the way. The idea of a laser is sexy, but right now its still a worthless weapon. 

 

China is expected to be fielding significantly more advanced anti-ship missiles in the coming years, and the US Navy has expressed interest in finding an effective counter to these expected weapons.  (One might argue that America's treaty with Taiwan obligates the Navy to find effective counters to Chinese naval power.)  Furthermore, the US conducts naval drills with and sells naval hardware to Taiwan.

 

Additionally, anti-ship defense do not have to be expensive.  Iran is not a rich country and it possesses anti-ship defenses that could put a major hole in a US ship.  There is also the issue of suicide bomber attacks, like what was carried out on the USS Cole.  (US Navy war games have identified this as a serious weakness that needs to be addressed.)  The Navy has been exploring laser weaponry as an effective defense against suicide bomber attacks, where it has shown quite a bit of promise as a means of closing a major vulnerability.

 

In short, there are several threat scenarios to which a ship could potentially be exposed, and the Navy is looking at what laser weapons could be realistically used to defend against.  The weapons currently being tested may not be effective against drones, but their successor weapons may well be effective as a result of the data gleaned from tests conducted today.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The operating cost makes it very useful as an defensive weapon.  As far as bad weather is concerned, at sea this is often the case.  Clearly some tuning needs to be done.  Perhaps something more penetrating like UV or gamma lasers will solve this issue.  In any case, the intervening weather could be annihilated by the beam (of pulses) if it can be fired fast enough.

 

Now, if they can use similar technology to fire a plasma burst ...

[LexusInfernus 908]

 

China is expected to be fielding significantly more advanced anti-ship missiles in the coming years, and the US Navy has expressed interest in finding an effective counter to these expected weapons.  (One might argue that America's treaty with Taiwan obligates the Navy to find effective counters to Chinese naval power.)  Furthermore, the US conducts naval drills with and sells naval hardware to Taiwan.

 

Additionally, anti-ship defense do not have to be expensive.  Iran is not a rich country and it possesses anti-ship defenses that could put a major hole in a US ship.  There is also the issue of suicide bomber attacks, like what was carried out on the USS Cole.  (US Navy war games have identified this as a serious weakness that needs to be addressed.)  The Navy has been exploring laser weaponry as an effective defense against suicide bomber attacks, where it has shown quite a bit of promise as a means of closing a major vulnerability.

 

In short, there are several threat scenarios to which a ship could potentially be exposed, and the Navy is looking at what laser weapons could be realistically used to defend against.  The weapons currently being tested may not be effective against drones, but their successor weapons may well be effective as a result of the data gleaned from tests conducted today.

 

Yes, but lets be realistic here, the US is not going to fight China in a full scale war any time soon. Nor is China going to invade Taiwan any time soon. Both the US and China do not stand to benefit from such a type of conflict. 

 

Second, if you own a sword it does not mean you are suddenly an expert swordsmen. As such, just because you own anti ship missiles it does not mean you automatically have an effective anti ship defense system. It requires trained personal, the necessary launch infrastructure, radar and other forms of recon hardware and software and you need enough missile launch sites so you can effectively cover your entire coast. Furthermore, you need to harden these sites so they survive a potential first strike by the other party, which means back up sites, camoflage, storage bunkers, AA defenses, etc. All that combined makes it pretty damned expensive. 

 

Combined with the fact that the US air dominance over pretty much everyone, as well as superior firepower with superior range, one can wonder why the US even needs to be so close to the coast that anti ship missiles become a threat. Or that if they do why they haven't taken care of the resistance there first.

 

Finally, suicide bombers in small boats are only a threat if your boat is docked in a harbor. If thats the case, laser cannons will not be able to stop them any better than those automatic airburst 40 mm cannons or those big chain guns. In fact, laser cannons are probably less useful if they require perfect weather conditions to even function. Actually, one can wonder what use a defense is if it only works under perfect weather conditions. And even then, its use against suicide boats depends on the crew of the ship and whether they can identify a suicide boat from a normal boat fast enough. 

 

And I somewhat doubt if they can improve the laser cannon to such a degree that it can shoot through dust or clouds. It seems to me that such a thing is simply the result of basic physics.