Navy will deploy first ship with laser weapon this summer

Navy’s LaWS will save bullets and missiles, and blind and burn drones and boats.

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[continuum]

ARM THE LASERS!!!

(and hopefully a reasonable weapon based on commercial technology as opposed to a massively expensive one? woohoo!)

 

[harteman]

I can't help but think our enemies will now be making very shiny mirrors...

 

[DigitusImpudicus]

Friggin Navy Boats with Friggin Laser Beams on their mast heads.

 

[foreignreign]

I like how the music in the video demonstration has kids shouting "Go!" in the background.

 

[arcite]

Only a range of a mile? How much more power would the laser need for more distance?

 

[jbode]

Lasers.

Lasers.

LAAAAZZZZEEEEERRRRZZZZZZ.

I now officially live in the future.

 

[axia777]

Now they need sharks with lasers.

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

"Pew pew pew..."

 

[seanmgallagher]

arcite[/url]":1790gnkb]Only a range of a mile? How much more power would the laser need for more distance?

The range for burning things is probably under two miles. As far as the blinding part, that could be at much greater ranges, but they have to be line-of-sight. This is a solid-state laser with a power of somewhere between 10 and 50 kilowatts—they'd have to get into the megawatt range to blow things up further away. The Zumwalt will have megawatts available, but most ships don't have that much free power generation capacity.

 

[BioTurboNick]

What's the on-target time expected to be for a single "shot"?

 

[AstroGrover]

What are the odds of this ever being used?

 

[ThomBat]

Having studied this field carefully at a leading research facility (my local cinema) I'm delighted to say that we are finally about to discover whether the US Navy are "the good guys". All we need to do is watch them in action, then answer: did most of their shots hit or miss? For a tiebreaker (if needed), what color were the laser bolts?

 

[Nodnib]

Just don't point it at a house full of popcorn kernels....

 

[eas]

FULL POWER TO FORWARD SHIELDS!

 

[eas]

seanmgallagher[/url]":37qosiql]

arcite[/url]":37qosiql]Only a range of a mile? How much more power would the laser need for more distance?

The range for burning things is probably under two miles. As far as the blinding part, that could be at much greater ranges, but they have to be line-of-sight. This is a solid-state laser with a power of somewhere between 10 and 50 kilowatts—they'd have to get into the megawatt range to blow things up further away. The Zumwalt will have megawatts available, but most ships don't have that much free power generation capacity.

One word: Capacitors

 

[axia777]

AstroGrover[/url]":165j61ml]What are the odds of this ever being used?

The USS Cole. Nuff said.

 

[killing_time]

BioTurboNick[/url]":18403784]What's the on-target time expected to be for a single "shot"?

yeah, wondering if they ever have the intention of using it against something like an exocet.

 

[iconmaster]

harteman[/url]":1401mflu]I can't help but think our enemies will now be making very shiny mirrors...

"Arm the lasers!"

"Sir... we have a problem."

"What the blazes is it?"

"The enemy ship... is totally pimpin' sir."

"WHAT?"

"It's completely blinged out, sir. Chrome all up in this mutha."

 

[Dilbert]

Cool. Makes sense to deploy directed energy weapons on ships first. They require a lot of power and ship's got that. Aircraft and vehicles do not.

 

[Mitlov]

Billion-dollar naval weapon defeated by T-Pain's medallion. Because his is, after all, on a boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

 

[Bookgrub]

I suspect British troops will have difficulty maintaining an appropriately serious demeanour if involved in manoeuvres with this vessel.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... lish/ponce

 

[graspaevinci]

eas[/url]":2tfoei7u]FULL POWER TO FORWARD SHIELDS!

s/SHIELDS/MIRRORS/

FTFY

 

[kranchammer]

Dilbert[/url]":37cx5zh7]Cool. Makes sense to deploy directed energy weapons on ships first. They require a lot of power and ship's got that. Aircraft and vehicles do not.

It's an exact parallel, historically, to the development of cannons on ships during the age of sail. Archimede's principle means that even a small frigate could radically outgun mobile artillery, and even most fixed emplacements.

 

[Sparkfizt]

A mirror wont do you any good at this power level. Any imperfections or dust would immediately char and cause the mirror to start absorbing energy. Not to mention you need a mirror with a very high reflectance at the right wavelength.

 

[Vipre77]

Bookgrub[/url]":2kvmhhn2]I suspect British troops will have difficulty maintaining an appropriately serious demeanour if involved in manoeuvres with this vessel.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... lish/ponce

Yes, it does seem a pretty terrible choice of a name for a warship.

 

[Deleted member 1]

killing_time[/url]":3a3eqh8j]

BioTurboNick[/url]":3a3eqh8j]What's the on-target time expected to be for a single "shot"?

yeah, wondering if they ever have the intention of using it against something like an exocet.

I really doubt it'll be that useful against real ASM,given its dubious performance envelope.. That might also explain why they're fielding this weapon system initially on a LPD and not an anti-surface platform like the Ticonderogas or the Burke-class vessels.
What I wonder is how this system would compare in adverse weather (or even sea mist)

axia777[/url]":3a3eqh8j]

AstroGrover[/url]":3a3eqh8j]What are the odds of this ever being used?

The USS Cole. Nuff said.

I really doubt this laser would've done more than the systems carried by the Cole,since the problem wasn't really engaging the kamikaze boat,but recognizing that it was a threat.. And of course,I may be biased,but I prefer a DP gun (or the CIWS/Bushmasters ) opening up on an attacker than an unproven weapon system that might be susceptible to seriously degraded performance in non-optimal weather

 

[vmjersey]

Frigin sharks with friggin lasers on their heads!

 

[Fearknot]

[...] to defend against drones, small boats, light aircraft, and missiles at ranges of about a mile.

With a missile speed of Mach 3, that gives you about 2 seconds to vaporize an incoming missile. Good luck with that.

 

[rex86]

The technology used to focus the laser beam onto the target has some very interesting history. It was first developed by the military for use in the famous star wars program and for tracking Soviet satellites, but later was used successfully by the astronomers (active optics) and is still used today for removing the effects of the turbulent atmosphere on the mirrors of the telescopes, only to be once again used by the military.

 

[dmsilev]

harteman[/url]":2jr4jyzv]I can't help but think our enemies will now be making very shiny mirrors...

Most mirrors don't actually cope well with large amounts of focused energy. I have some coworkers who use more modest-sized lasers (their "big laser" is 200 W), and burning the coatings off the mirrors on their optics is something they constantly worry about.

 

[Dark Steve]

eas[/url]":3luevo61]One word: Capacitors

Why did you use three words to say one word?

And I'm assuming the laser already has capacitors, it's just that they would need to be impractically big for a ship with lesser power generation capacity.

 

[Dark Steve]

Null_Space[/url]":2lobtpqc]named (transitively) after Ponce de Leon (1474)

ponce (attested late 19th century)

the British will just have to deal with it, they shouldn't have chosen an existing word.

Well, the British will meet you in the oceans of battle, with their fully armed and operational battleship, the HMS Fag. The Australians will back them up with the HMAS Poof.

 

[xizive]

Dark Steve[/url]":3531v4gp]

eas[/url]":3531v4gp]One word: Capacitors

Why did you use three words to say one word?

And I'm assuming the laser already has capacitors, it's just that they would need to be impractically big for a ship with lesser power generation capacity.

One word: Big-freakin-holy-crap-we-got-23-gigawatts-ready-for-fast-discharge-super-caps.

PS: From the photos, I would say the problem has been solved.

 

[Mitlov]

bk109[/url]":3dpzf5zq]I really doubt this laser would've done more than the systems carried by the Cole,since the problem wasn't really engaging the kamikaze boat,but recognizing that it was a threat.. And of course,I may be biased,but I prefer a DP gun (or the CIWS/Bushmasters ) opening up on an attacker than an unproven weapon system that might be susceptible to seriously degraded performance in non-optimal weather

All "OMG lasers" excitement aside, I agree. The Phalanx CIWS has an effective range of two miles and works in all weather. It fires 4,500 rounds per minute of 20mm ammunition. It can be used against ships or against airborne targets. And unlike a laser, it has a bit of a spread that helps it hit a missile or drone in mid-air (anyone who has ever hunted ducks, or shot trap or skeet, understands the importance of having your shot spread).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS

It's a LOT of CIWS ammunition you need to save before you even pay off the R&D and production costs for this laser system and break even on the investment...

 

[xizive]

Mitlov[/url]":s4pa0fe1]
It's a LOT of CIWS ammunition you need to save before you even pay off the R&D and production costs for this laser system and break even on the investment...

The Navy is thinking long-term. It would be silly not to at least try using lasers. If it works, it solves all sorts of problems. The next war will be drone-on-drone with lasers, making war cheap, environmentally friendly, non-lethal, with an endless supply of ammo.

 

[henryhbk]

dmsilev[/url]":2c1h1wcc]

harteman[/url]":2c1h1wcc]I can't help but think our enemies will now be making very shiny mirrors...

Most mirrors don't actually cope well with large amounts of focused energy. I have some coworkers who use more modest-sized lasers (their "big laser" is 200 W), and burning the coatings off the mirrors on their optics is something they constantly worry about.

And those are most likely front-surface mirrors (because who wants internal reflection and refraction of glass in high-precision optics)..

 

[henryhbk]

harteman[/url]":3b0ibtrr]

Sparkfizt[/url]":3b0ibtrr]A mirror wont do you any good at this power level. Any imperfections or dust would immediately char and cause the mirror to start absorbing energy. Not to mention you need a mirror with a very high reflectance at the right wavelength.

Except...

Aren't such things present in the laser itself?

Yes, there can be internal mirrors in a laser, and they are very carefully engineered not to blow apart. They are typically front surface mirrors, that are designed to handle that specific frequency (and dust/imperfections can cause spectacular failures) which could of course be countered by using a few different frequencies across the fleet (if that is economically feasible). But on a more important level, the question is, does this work superiorly for burning things up vs. a CIWS (the blinding clearly works "better" since a CIWS doesn't exactly blind a camera in a fixable way). There is also the more grim thing of this in that it may blind humans at the far end (I am sure way farther out an a mile)