4 ms·

How does this perform in adverse weather conditions? I'm thinking dust storms, rain, and fog — anything that puts droplets/dirt in the beam path is going to sc

by cstross 10y ago

How does this perform in adverse weather conditions? I'm thinking dust storms, rain, and fog — anything that puts droplets/dirt in the beam path is going to scatter/absorb energy. Which brings us back to the old staple of warfare, the smokescreen.

ChuckMcM 10y ago
From what I've read about these high intensity lasers in rain and fog they just 'burns a hole' though to the target. That absorbs energy but only for the initial start up. In a monsoon situation I would expect it to be useless though. I wondered if they might make for a sort of 'fog plow' which would burn away the fog but the volume of air you would need to heat to keep a road cleared is rather huge. Dust, and in particular volcanic ash (which is basically glass shards) are more of an issue. It raises the question of whether a missile could eject a powder to mitigate laser power landing on the missile.
- nkrisc 10y ago
  Even in a monsoon I imagine a powerful enough laser should have no problem, no? Relative to the light of the laser, the rain drops are stationary. But maybe the power required to 'burn' through all that rain is higher than the discussed class of laser weapons.
- jboggan 10y ago
  First missile lays down a volcanic ash screen, second missile flies through it to the target.
  - ChuckMcM 10y ago
    Interestingly flying through volcanic ash, even in small amounts, is exceptionally hard on aircraft. So hard in fact that in one of the DARPA call for wild ideas rounds I suggested a "puffer ball" defense system consisting of a steam or air pressured dispenser on ship that could fire a 'plume' of volcanic ash to a height of up to 1000 meters. If any aircraft 'buzz' your ship with that plume up they are going to lose their engines. It could also make for a shore based cruise missile defense where you puff it infront of the missile and hope that the missile's radar can't see enough of it to jog left or right. It is remarkable stuff[1] [1] http://www3.alpa.org/portals/alpa/volcanicash/03_NASADC8AshDamage.pdf http://www3.alpa.org/portals/alpa/volcanicash/03_NASADC8AshD...
edaemon 10y ago
Adverse weather could be a problem, but these weapons are intended to fight against things that would also be hampered by the weather.
RandomOpinion 10y ago
> How does this perform in adverse weather conditions? One could ask the very same thing about WWI era aircraft. Look at where we are today. Presumably there would other defense systems to fall back on during adverse weather. Even if this first-generation laser system worked well only on days where it wasn't raining, that would still represent an enormous cost savings.

by cstross 10y ago

ChuckMcM 10y ago

From what I've read about these high intensity lasers in rain and fog they just 'burns a hole' though to the target. That absorbs energy but only for the initial start up. In a monsoon situation I would expect it to be useless though. I wondered if they might make for a sort of 'fog plow' which would burn away the fog but the volume of air you would need to heat to keep a road cleared is rather huge. Dust, and in particular volcanic ash (which is basically glass shards) are more of an issue. It raises the question of whether a missile could eject a powder to mitigate laser power landing on the missile.

nkrisc 10y ago
Even in a monsoon I imagine a powerful enough laser should have no problem, no? Relative to the light of the laser, the rain drops are stationary. But maybe the power required to 'burn' through all that rain is higher than the discussed class of laser weapons.
jboggan 10y ago
First missile lays down a volcanic ash screen, second missile flies through it to the target.
- ChuckMcM 10y ago
  Interestingly flying through volcanic ash, even in small amounts, is exceptionally hard on aircraft. So hard in fact that in one of the DARPA call for wild ideas rounds I suggested a "puffer ball" defense system consisting of a steam or air pressured dispenser on ship that could fire a 'plume' of volcanic ash to a height of up to 1000 meters. If any aircraft 'buzz' your ship with that plume up they are going to lose their engines. It could also make for a shore based cruise missile defense where you puff it infront of the missile and hope that the missile's radar can't see enough of it to jog left or right. It is remarkable stuff[1] [1] http://www3.alpa.org/portals/alpa/volcanicash/03_NASADC8AshDamage.pdf http://www3.alpa.org/portals/alpa/volcanicash/03_NASADC8AshD...

edaemon 10y ago

Adverse weather could be a problem, but these weapons are intended to fight against things that would also be hampered by the weather.

RandomOpinion 10y ago

> How does this perform in adverse weather conditions? One could ask the very same thing about WWI era aircraft. Look at where we are today. Presumably there would other defense systems to fall back on during adverse weather. Even if this first-generation laser system worked well only on days where it wasn't raining, that would still represent an enormous cost savings.