The Air Force plans to fit a B1-B bomber with a new 150-kilowatt solid-state laser that will be built by the winner of a contract competition between General Atomics Aeronautical (GAA) and Textron Defense. The original DARPA effort arose when “we realized that a laser beam propagates much more efficiently 1,000 meters off the ground, where atmospheric distortion and scattering effects are much less pronounced,” according to Michael Perry, vice president at GAA. To fit in a fighter jet, one of the chief Pentagon goals, the airborne laser weapon will need to generate around five kilowatts per kilogram which means the technology “has to be reduced in size and weight by a factor of 10 over the current ground-based system,” Perry notes.
Meanwhile, U.S. Navy researchers are learning to cope with the extra difficulties of running a finely tuned electro-optical device in the harsh maritime conditions near the sea surface, where water vapor in the air tends to scatter and attenuate directed-energy beams. Navy planners are interested in using lasers in a “counter-materiel role” to help naval vessels fend off harassing attacks by squadrons of small armed boats such as occurred in early 2008 in the Strait of Hormuz, says Dan Wildt, vice president of directed energy systems at Northrop Grumman. Though the Navy is not saying specifically, it is thought that a relatively low-power laser beam could set alight wood or glass-fiber hulls, fuel or vulnerable weapons from stand-off distances of a kilometer or more. Wildt’s company is supplying a 15-kilowatt solid-state laser for Navy tests at a Pacific range later this year.
Northrop Grumman and others are also working on switchable free-electron lasers that can fire beams of two or more different wavelengths of light.* These weapons could provide ship defenses with more flexible means to better penetrate the sea haze and protect against supersonic cruise missiles and other aerial threats. Free-electron lasers employ an array of electromagnets called a wiggler or undulator to force a beam of electrons to travel in a sinusoidal path that makes them release energetic, in-phase photons that form a powerful laser beam. Changes to the electron beam or the wiggler’s magnetic field alters the wavelength of the resulting laser beam.
Much of the recent interest in military laser technology stems from recent progress in solid-state, or electric, laser technology. These sources generate powerful, coherent light beams when arrays of semiconductor laser diodes pump light into the faces of “slabs” or rods—special ceramic lasing media that amplify the light greatly. The slabs are ganged into chains that progressively boost the output beam power. Over the past few years, contractors have demonstrated solid-state lasers capable of producing over 100 kilowatts of power, which specialists consider the minimum weapons-grade power rating.
Weapons-grade electric lasers have an Achilles heel, however. Their energy conversion efficiencies are only 20 to 30 percent, which means most of the input power is lost to heat. To dissipate the waste heat that would otherwise cause thermal distortions in the internal light path and reduce optical transmission, electric lasers require bulky, power-hungry liquid-cooling systems, says Mike Rinn, vice president at Boeing. Future mobile lasers will have to operate much more efficiently, to avoid the need both for huge, energy-sapping coolers and perhaps for batteries altogether if they could run directly off of a vehicle’s engine power. Two laser technologies that could fit the requirement, Rinn says, are the fiber laser, where the lasing material is a fiber-optic material, and the so-called hybrid laser, in which laser diodes pump a gas-phase lasing media.
*Correction (5/17/10): This article originally stated that Northrop Grumman and others are working on "free-energy" lasers.
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Add CommentThis is very dangerous - in an ICE-9 kind of way.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA while back someone developed a laser system that would "sweep" a battlefield and anyone that was looking in that direction would be blind.
Just because we can figure out how to do something does not mean it should be made into a weapon.
I wish they would stop farting around and destroy everyone and everything already and get it over with! At least then the survivors can get on with life and the reality of existance. What we are living now is a twisted verson of life created by the greedy and evil free-market capitalist pigs who are also warmongering sociopaths that would sell their mother, daughter or even thier left testicle if they could get a buck for it. So sad wht the supposedly most intellegent animal on the planet does with it's time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHeh Reveen, be careful with using "we" like that... you might be living a "twisted version of life", but don't assume others are...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd don't forget, without the "evil free-market carpitalist pigs", the standard of living for billions of people around the world would be much much lower.
It would be nice if we could all hold hands and magically resources and technology would appear to make life better, but frankly it takes a little self-interest to get enough people moving to make some progress. It might be an ugly truth, but it is none the less true.
It would be much more useful if, instead of ranting about the problems with the current setup as if we'd be better off without it (which isn't going to happen, so you might as well focus on reality), you invested some time in working to curb the abuses that come with the present system... in effect taking as much of the good as we can get from it, and working as hard as we can to limit the damage it does at the same time.
A microwave/laser radio frequency directed energy weapon system, installed on cellular towers, has been deployed in virtually every neighborhood in America -- and is being used by regional Homeland Security-administered "fusion centers" to silently assault, torture, subjugate and impair "targeted" American citizens. Infrared lasers are among devices used to obtain target coordinates.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis veteran journalist broke this story last December. This SciAm story appears to buy the psy ops -- repeating the disinformation that these systems are not "battle ready." That is not the case for tower-mounted installations. Read:
http://nowpublic.com/world/u-s-silently-tortures-americans-cell-tower-microwaves
OR NowPublic.com/scrivener re: "U.S. Silently..."
Hmmm. And I suppose this is worse than the utopian communism as handled by Stalin? You need to realize that "they" are "us". Human beings in general have the capacity for both good and bad and your "survivors" would still find reasons to fight among themselves. As long as there are people living there will be fighting. That is the "reality of existence". I don't understand your point however since the main point of the weapon is to do less damage by stopping weapons that have been fired and by taking out evildoers without hurting those around them. This is hardly a weapon designed by "warmongering sociopaths". Also, most of the fighting isn't over money, it is over ideology and control. If these rogue terrorist groups only wanted money they could get it just fine without killing. Bin Laden himself came from a wealthy family. Instead they choose a life sheltered in caves so they can do their killing. Developing better ways to defend against thise psychopaths without killing innocent bystanders is a good thing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was stationed in a Special Weapons Company in Germany in 1957-8, and my Warrant Officer witnessed a rail gun demonstration at the White Sands facility before he came to our outfit - 50+ years is a lot of time for R & D work...If a hand held device was available, it not surprise me in the least.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReveen, is actually partially correct. The "less deadly" wars become the more likely we are to enter into them. But you can look no further than your "peace at all cost" brethren" for that. Not having a war does not mean having peace.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWith that being said ... the number of people who actually DIE in wars has actually gone down (thanks largely threat of nuclear weapons keeping large nations out of direct conflict). I would imagine that the US and the USSR would have gone at it at some point after WWII had it not been for that.
Addendum to "scrivener" comment: The microwave/laser radio frequency multi-functional directed energy weapon system installed on cell towers throughout America, and in much of the industrialized world, is based primarily on U.S. Patent No. 7629918, assigned to Raytheon. The story, and related articles, can be found at http://NowPublic.com/scrivener (see "stories" list).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@tharriss -
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"without the 'evil free-market carpitalist pigs', the standard of living for billions of people around the world would be much much lower."
- that may be your OPINION, but cannot be stated as fact.
"A microwave/laser radio frequency directed energy weapon system, installed on cellular towers, has been deployed in virtually every neighborhood in America "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo funny, I LOL'ed . . .
@Donaldo:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisActually advances have been made that work to guide an energy beam around, or seemingly through, obstacles using, as I think they are called, plasma channels. Also, gravity itself bends light.
Did you even read U.S. Patent No. 7629918? Do you see big moving dishes on cell phone towers that follow people? no? well unless the dishes are aimed at 1 person and they stay still year round then i think that idea's a load of %#$%
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPatent = a placeholder to own the rights for novel use. Most patents never get used. This is due to a large part since functionality is NOT a requirement! (the main requirement is $$ and to show some basic novel use of just about anything)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy company makes 100s of Patent requests a year to make possible placeholders for future use (most never pan out) and makes "false" ones to fool the competition.
A Patent of something means absolutely nothing but legal rights. . . . look at all the perpetual motion Patents - ya they all work .. right?
Also "laser radio frequency"? wha?
Also having looked at the Patent . .. all I can say is DUH. . . beam enough energy and you will have a harmed target!? . . People I know at Raytheon know full well how dangerous a military radar unit is.
That on a Cell tower "beaming" individual people . . yes LOL LOL LOL LOL . . . . been there checked that, seen the equipment, and measured the emissions . .
You Sir a soooooo full of IT . . I oscillate between full LOL and sad.
By your logic, cell phone technology would be impossible. Faulty logic, and faulty psy ops, if that's your mission here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWay cool. A laser on an distant air craft could disable an entire convoy by shooting out the tires, with virtually no casualties.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA lot better than trying to blow the whole thing up.
Aside from the battlefield, seems to me like these things could be carried into space (only once they are lighter) to vaporize orbiting space junk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFunny, the proffessor at the University of Ilinois was not mensioned. In 1960 I was a student of his and I remember
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishim showing me the Maser he was working on with old
equipment he bought from the navy. Not nice guys,,,,,
Mistake in Article: Free ELECTRON lasers, not Free Energy Lasers.....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTaerog, while Scrivener COULD be on a creative rant, the gov't does have microwave weapons capability, and they are not making this technology nor the use of it public by any means. Furthermore, do you not believe the gov't would not use human guinea pigs to test and study the effects of such weaponry? Whether or not the gov't is performing the torture described by Scrivener is almost a mute point; the technology IS here and now.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, maybe it shouldn't be made into a weapon, but rest assured, if it will make a good weapon, then it WILL be made into one. A quote from the article; "At the end of this year, which marks a half-century of amazing progress in lasers"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismakes one wonder the reason behind this remarkable progress? The reason IS, there has been a lot of money poured into this technology over the last 50 years so WEAPONS can be made. Other applications such as medical and industrial are merely icing on the cake.
The real benefit of all this military laser development is still a ways away and it will so completely overshadow the military applications that those weapons will be unimportant.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMyrabo's lightcraft, spaceships launched by laser beams and landed by them, that is what will make megawatt lasers and above valuable.
www.lightcrafttechnologies.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightcraft
Seriously, the development of ultra high energy lasers will do for space travel what ARPANET did for the internet.
Aside from that, such lasers will be capable of carving rock, which will renovate the construction industry in a way not seen since the invention of the I-beam and reinforced concrete.
Mark my words. The next 20 years will create a world hard to recognize today.
John_Toradze - Great news about the ability to carve out rock with lasers: my favorite first movie was the 1955 classic "Invaders From Mars", in which aliens used ray guns to blast out bubbly tunnels for their flying saucers!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat capability might actual be useful for building energy efficient underground homes, safe from UV exposure.
My favorite slide, though, was the last, hand held non-lethal, dazzling crowd control device. I swear I saw Jimi Hendrix fire something like that at a huge crowd in the late 1960s - very effective it was, too.
Yep, you'd hardly recognize that world today.
"Taerog, while Scrivener COULD be on a creative rant, the gov't does have microwave weapons capability, and they are not making this technology nor the use of it public by any means. "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou misunderstand me. I was saying - pointing at a Patent for anything other then finding out who has rights over an idea is useless. Patent <> reality of functioning device. So the evidence he used for his argument is not viable and I was pointing that out.
The reality of Microwave weapons is a old old thing . . I have made one myself on a small scale and non-weaponized emitters like commercial radar can also be quite harmful (the problem being range vs power drop off). I also know the military has played with the idea - ending in lack luster results.
BUT Scrivener and his kooky group specifically think high powered and persicsely targets known people and gave as evidence a Patent #.
regardless of what the military IS doing, then ARE not putting anything of the sort on common cell towers. This is a hard fact, that is tested every day visually as well as with instruments measuring emissions. But if kooks do not want to have REALITY get in there way there is little I can do but LOL and snipe at there completely lame "evidence".
On subject, This laser system is long in coming and very welcome. I can't wait to see more details.
I love this thread.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMe, too. I really get a kick out of conspiracy theorists
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy don't they just cover missiles with mirors to deflect the laser? Am I missing something here?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishalneufmille - Darn! There goes that military contract!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps even a polished aluminum exterior would be adequate...
Candide - I would rather blind a few thousand enemies than kill them. That way they destroy morale and are a financial drain on the enemy economy. A laser to blind enemies enmass is awsome.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReveen - Why don't you show us the way by dying first?
tharriss - How dare you make sense and be in touch with reality!?!?!?!?
scrivener - Haven't I warned you before about hallucinogenic mushrooms? Paranoia is bad. Get help! On the other hand, the DOD has actually used involuntary human testing as recently as the 1980s.
Candide again - Actually it is widely accepted as fact that capitalism improves quality of life. Why do you think China is modernizing?
scrivener again - Did you use the word logic? You shouldn't say things when you don't know what they mean.
Nikolai - Mute?? Really? The point doesn't have the ability to talk? The word you are looking for is "moot". It means discussed as much as needed so no further conversation is required.
Halneufmille - Mirrors get dirty and pitted but yes, a laser can be dispersed by many different things such as smoke, mirrors/polish, etc.
- Microwave communication arrays carry warnings that you shouldn't get into the close focus area in front of each dish. The power used in microwave communication is a meer fraction of what is used in microwave ovens. To have a microwave weapon would require even more power than a laser weapon and it would get dispersed even easier.
"Why don't they just cover missiles with mirors to deflect the laser? Am I missing something here" -Halneufmille
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMissing something . . your still thinking normal "old" school "low power" lasers.
Normal mirrors would be of little use to a short pulse very high powered laser (at least a surface you could coat a missile with ie not even close to a almost perfect silver first mirror you would have to use) . This type of laser pulse would destroy a imperfect mirror as quickly as a any normal surface (they can even Etch glass) . Any spot defect would superheat and explode then that bigger defect would in turn go up. (300 fs to 1 ns pulses will damage even good optics - 1000s of times better then any reflective surface on a missile could sport)
Though you are correct about a long duration lower power laser, a reflective surface would help quite a bit, or just a thermal coating.
But then again we do not know what kind/level they are working with here, though I would expect a much shorter/powerful pulse to damage a shell is needed then a delicate missile.
but still we do not know.
I hope they make these ray guns insurgent-proof, because sooner or later they will get their hands on them and use them against us. Happens all the time. Fingerprint keys, perhaps?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisConspiracy or capitalism, it doesn't matter. The fact is that high power microwave and laser weapons exist, are being tested, and some are quite close to being fielded. For the latest developements reference AviationWeek.com (keyword: directed energy weapons). In addition to very high degrees of precision, some of these weapons can be adjusted to simply make a person too hot to stay where they are making them leave the area without killing or harming them. YouTube has video of a laser shooting down multiple mortor rounds in rapid succession. I prefer no war. But war happens and I want the 'good' weapons in our troops hands. Collateral damage is wrecking our image around the world. Precision weapons will reduce collateral damage. Get 'er done.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thistichead - What was the collateral damage at the WTC on 9/11? Not that it's unimportant, but realize that any enemy is aware of our sensitivity to our (self) image, and will leverage that against us.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWeapons development eventually produces weapons for all buyers. Any advantages are only temporary.
As for any government conspiracy against personal liberty, I'd be more concerned about the privacy of personal electronic devices and communications, along with electronic tacking and high performance recognition and identification than directed beam crowd control. There's far more justification for applications that preclude personal liberties than any need for individual annihilation. It's it's the video imaging that's potentially most dangerous, and most beneficial, to individuals and to groups.
Wow. Hopefully this is tested thoroughly. The possible technical advances branching from this could be vast.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWow. Hopefully this is tested thoroughly. From a technical standpoint the possible advances branching from this could be vast.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisto jtdwyer: I'm with you on the personal liberty thing. Any open wifi hotspot has been a point of attack on every level (Note the recent admission of Google of Street Level tracking of open wifi data). I just hope the National Security Agency (NSA) quits sucking all available data from each onshore web node, satelite link, and cell phone call and lets us talk in peace. That is the enemies domestic side of the discussion.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the enemies foreign side, we have used network centric warfare for more than twenty years and are now the best. The F-22 Raptor and the soon to be fielded F35 'Lightning II' Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) are net-centric based platforms. Their Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars both emit and detect data at broadband speed and are designed to attack enemy networks with hacker impudence. 'Button shock' is part of the non-kinetic package. The bad people don't know which button to push when these weapons are launched. Can these 'spear point' platforms be used on we the people. Yes, but, probably not because they are quite busy elsewhere. Are other 'shaft' platforms being used on we the people. Yes, but, they really only have time to look for the real bad organizations. We the people making our daily bread, for the most part, I expect, are in the recycle bin of fun things to watch at the NSA.
to romansb: the hardware runs until the 'spear shatters at launch'. The software and all the pertinent implications therof fall into the 'we don't really know until we need to' category. Established battlefield tactics and, sometimes strategies, are always defined and redefined at the moment the spear is thrown. I, personally, am bogled by the possible implications of all this. I don't expect I will ever understand the digital fallout of net-centric warfare. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out Windows Vista!
this is very interesting article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthis is very interesting article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIts amazing, you think if U.S. stops developing weapons the world will? Most of what the public takes for granted I.E. cell phone networks and satellite microwave high speed technology , was developed by military contactors or grants to universities decades ago. Most enjoy the satellite tech. they use to watch on their HD flat panel TVs, cell phones or GPS car navigation toys. Just about anything developed can be improved or countered for those worried about abuses. I still see alot of people supporting non proliferation of nuclear weapons as long as it is western countries very little opposition to the middle east developing or South America. From A. Q. Kahns help in N. Korea, Iran, Syria to Russian helping Iran among others.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow if the United States could only become serious about preventing the espionage that is already, or soon will be, directed at stealing this technology.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBy serious is meant execution for anyone who abets the passing any of this technology to any other country, friend or potential foe.
Technology is a double edge sword.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt can advance human quality of life as it can bring death, misery and submission to greed possessors of deadly weapons.
The United States of America distinguishes itself at the forefront as the nation that most invest on weapons to kill and destroy as efficient and effectively as possible.
Wouldn't humanity and mainly the American people be much better if the United States of America uses its technology achievements for the good of the whole humanity and not for the domination and self advantage of a few?
Technology is a double edge sword.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt can advance human quality of life as it can bring death, misery and submission to greed possessors of such deadly weapons.
The United States of America distinguishes itself at the forefront as the nation that most invest on weapons to kill and destroy as efficient and effectively as possible.
It is EVEN a source of national pride to have an arsenal that can bring such a level of death, destruction and subservience to mankind.
Wouldn't humanity and mainly the American people be much better if the United States of America uses its technology achievements for the good of the whole humanity and not for the domination and self advantage of a few?
to Trackerz1NV: Worn out swords are made into plowshares. If that means I get to do this (write these words in this virtual space) because used up military detritis landed in my technology store, fine. I doubt the 'top secret, alien inspired' technology is waiting on some website for the evildoers to employ in their rage. I'm almost certain that H. ergaster would hack, heist, or hire any available technology. We are no different in that respect. H. sapiens hasn't lost the capability to acquire new technology by any means available. We should prevent rampant dissemenation of secret stuff. But stuff will get out. And ALOT of stuff is out.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisto bestlungman: Justice is being done. Sometimes in summary fashion, other times in more formal settings. Catching them is the hard part.
to AndersonClay: I agree.
Two broad categories are to be considered. One is the 'very pointy spear' discussed in this article. The second is getting all the 'very pointy spears' to talk to each other in real time. True, we have the best neurons in the world burning brightly, day and night, to get this technology into the soldiers' hands. We do lead the world in 'pointy spear' technology, but we are not alone in the pursuit and other nations have their best neurons working on the same goals. Their brains work just as well as ours do (especially if they earned high tech degrees at U. S. universities). And, none of what this article describes is easy to do. Connecting ad-hoc networks in real time just is not possible yet. Can a single F-22 hack an enemy radar to make it display a false target image? Yes. Can it distribute that information and response in real time across 13 different basic communication platforms, each with multiple generations of equipment in the field, to every entity engaged in the operation? No [see "The Rise of Instant Wireless Networks" by Michelle Effros, Andrea Goldsmith and Muriel Medard; SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, April 2010].
When North Korea goes kinetic we will see lots of 'geewhiz'. PACCOM (Pacific Command) has some of the pointiest spears available, trained and ready to respond to that threat. But that doesn't mean alot people won't die on both sides of the conflict. It just means that more of the enemy will die for their country faster. It will still be war. Only it will end sooner, I hope.
Actually you can. Look at any year and compare standard of living between Marxist and free market countries.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI actually know people from communist Russia and Czechoslovakia the Ukraine and they all said that they are much happier here.