…… Mr. Gates said he would cut from programs for defense against missiles, including halting the increase in the numbers of defensive missiles deployed in Alaska. Defense experts were also expecting that Boeing’s airborne laser system, which would equip a modified 747 jetliner with a laser to shoot down missiles, might be killed…….
via Gates Budget Plan Reshapes Pentagon’s Priorities – NYTimes.com.
American troops in Iraq are reporting a series of incidents in which servicemembers have been blinded or required medical treatment after friendly-fire laser injuries.
via Stars and Stripes.
Northrop Grumman reported that it got a solid-state laser to fire a beam with a potency of 105.5 kilowatts.
Although the Airborne Laser (ABL) was fired from a stationary plane at a target on the ground just a few metres away, the test marked a milestone for the weapon, developed by aerospace firms Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
So starts a recent article on airborne laser from New Scientist. The most useful information for me is the following time line.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a new contract worth up to $30 million for the next phase of development on the Advanced Tactical Laser.
The ATL is a C-130H aircraft outfitted with a 12,000-pound high-energy chemical laser module that would be used as a weapon against ground targets. It’s the smaller sibling of the Airborne Laser, a highly modified 747 under development that packs a similar weapon but that would be used against ballistic missiles.
Laser gunship hits $30 million bulls-eye | Crave, the gadget blog – CNET.
Thursday Aug 28, 2008 13:21:23 EDT
The laser-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition made its combat debut in Iraq earlier this month, the Air Force announced Wednesday.
The 500-pound bomb, also known as the GBU-54, joined the war when an F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Balad, used it to strike a moving enemy vehicle in Diyala province. The pilot was working with a joint terminal attack controller on the ground.
Laser-guided bomb makes first strike in Iraq – Air Force News, news from Iraq – Air Force Times.
Canada. Armed with legal advice that the systems can be classified as warning devices, the Canadian military wants to proceed with the purchase of laser weapons designed to temporarily blind people.
But a group opposed to the purchase of the equipment says any use of the so-called “laser dazzlers” in Afghanistan violates international law and sets a dangerous precedent. Read more…
What happens when a high-power laser weapon strikes human flesh? This is the topic addressed in a paper for the Air Force office of Scientific Research with the title, “Laser Induced Shock Waves and Vaporization in Biological Systems.” It’s all about computer modeling the effects of laser pulses:
In order to cause damage to the absorbing material, the electromagnetic energy of the laser pulse must be converted to thermo-mechanical energy. We have developed a computational model that allows the calculation of damage resulting from a laser pulse of any duration or energy due to temperature rise, explosive bubble formation, and shock wave production. We have discovered that the system exhibits chaotic dynamics….
We also discovered resonant effects in laser absorption and damage that allow the duration between pulses to be tuned to channel a greater or lesser fraction of the absorbed energy into shockfront and bubble production. This allows the delivery of large amounts of laser energy to produce strong thermal effects while suppressing unwanted pressure effects, or vice versa.
Via: Wired Blog
Boeing Co says it is making “smart” bombs even smarter, able to go after moving targets in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The company said last week it started shipping new laser seeker add-ons designed to use laser energy reflected from a target to guide a bomb to what is supposed to be a pinpoint hit, even as the target moves.
The first so-called Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition, or LJDAM, kits were delivered to the Air Force under a $28 million contract for 600 kits awarded in May 2007.
The upgrade adds a relatively low-cost laser sensor to the nose of a JDAM-equipped bomb, a mainstay weapon of the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the Pentagon’s No. 2 supplier by sales.
More at Reuters
The Navy is pushing ahead with a five-year, $163 million dollar plan to bring the “Holy Grail” of energy weapons up to battlefield strength. Wired.com
Again. Nothing new.
