An Earth-Shattering KABOOM!
The Navy has themselves a raygun. Earlier this month, a 15KW solid-state laser mounted on a cruiser successfully torched a boat from "miles" away, (the exact range of the weapon is classified).
Admittedly it took some time to do it, and it certainly ain't gonna de-exist the Bad Guys with anything like the efficiency of a good old 5" shell. But that was a mere popgun; it was more for examining the feasibility of mounting beam weapons on a combat vessel, and to test the weapon tracking system. It's paving the way for much more impressive stuff to come.
In February, the Navy lab-tested a 500KV free electron laser, "producing a supercharged electron beam that can burn through 20 feet of steel per second." We sci-fi geeks usually call that a particle beam. They're projecting deployment to the fleet starting in the '20s.
US Navy ships with particle beam cannons... In my lifetime! I'm gettin' all tingly.
Admittedly it took some time to do it, and it certainly ain't gonna de-exist the Bad Guys with anything like the efficiency of a good old 5" shell. But that was a mere popgun; it was more for examining the feasibility of mounting beam weapons on a combat vessel, and to test the weapon tracking system. It's paving the way for much more impressive stuff to come.
In February, the Navy lab-tested a 500KV free electron laser, "producing a supercharged electron beam that can burn through 20 feet of steel per second." We sci-fi geeks usually call that a particle beam. They're projecting deployment to the fleet starting in the '20s.
US Navy ships with particle beam cannons... In my lifetime! I'm gettin' all tingly.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 12:26
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