8 ms·

So in ideal conditions you have a big, heavy gun that can sort of harm an immobile target that isn’t using basic countermeasures. Meanwhile a BMG .50 rifle can

So in ideal conditions you have a big, heavy gun that can sort of harm an immobile target that isn’t using basic countermeasures. Meanwhile a BMG .50 rifle can put a hole in an engine block from twice the distance, is cheaper and more reliable, and never runs out of juice. Way to put the “PR” in PRC.

m45t3r 8y ago
You can track a bullet though, this seems to be completely invisible to naked eye so you could put a house on fire (since it seems to be pretty hot) and nobody would know.
- bitxbitxbitcoin 8y ago
  Serious question: assuming the structure is burned beyond recognition, would arson specialists be able to tell if a house were put on fire in this manner?
  - anigbrowl 8y ago
    No, though they might be able to tell you where the fire started.
- gotocake 8y ago
  Lasers only travel in straight lines, and any moisture or dust will reveal its trajectory and draw a straight line to the shooter. Worse, you need to keep the laser on target for a while. With a .50 BMG sniper rifle you can be moving before the sound of the bullet reaches the target.
  - maxander 8y ago
    No, an invisible infrared beam reflecting off of dust or water vapor is still invisible infrared light.
    - gotocake 8y ago
      Fair enough, but those wavelengths are visible with night vision gear. Either you work in visible wavelengths and worry about dust, or you work in IR and draw bright lines for anyone with NVG.
      - phonypc 8y ago
        It would have to be night time or otherwise dark and there would have to be enough dust/whatever in the air and you'd have to be expecting a laser attack. And then you'd have two seconds to follow the 'shot' back to its origin.
        gotocake 8y ago
        In order... It would not have to be night time, modern NVG is quite adaptable. It would also be trivial to deliver something using the same tech as primative NVGs or basic FLIR as a countermeasure. Dust isn’t required with IR, the whole beam will be very visible on NVG. Where are you getting “2 seconds” from as the time necessary to kill someone with this laser?
        skeoh 8y ago
        I believe "2 seconds" is in reference to the following sentence in the article: > It can fire more than 1,000 “shots”, each lasting no more than two seconds. The implication being not that you have two seconds to kill someone but that you have two seconds to follow the beam from its destination to its origin.
        phonypc 8y ago
        Article states a 'shot' lasts no more than two seconds. Who said anything about killing? The use case seems to be incapacitation and starting fires. Why would particulate matter in the air not be required? There's plenty of video on youtube of IR laser pointer operation through night vision. It works the same as a visible laser. Given you have IR laser detecting equipment suitable for daytime use (I'm not convinced your could adapt existing night vision equipment to the task) that would still require you to be expecting a laser attack to deploy it. Come to think of it, it's not a given that the weapon even uses a wavelength visible to night vision devices. They don't cover all of infrared.
anigbrowl 8y ago
There's a certain irony in people on a technology site dismissing the deployment of an entirely new tactical option that offers several advantages. I'm particularly perplexed by your suggestion that a BMG rifle 'never runs out of juice' as if they came with infinite ammo or something. Consider this: if you get shot at by a BMG you'll know about it, and possibly be able to figure out where the attack came from. If you just have things silently bursting into flame it may not even be obvious that an attack is underway. And rechargeable batteries strike me as having distinct advantages over expendable ammo. Every building and vehicle is an ammo locker.
- kazinator 8y ago
  A laser's aim doesn't require elevation to compensate for drop. Its aim is also not perturbed by wind, though affected by refraction due to air temperature differences, and attenuated by smoke/fog/dust, which also reveal its path.
  - gotocake 8y ago
    It’s also seriously impacted by bloom on the target, which is trivial to produce with even moderate shielding. There’s a reason some very smart people still struggle with adaptive optics and phase arrays, instead of revealing comical sci-fi “weapons”.
    - anigbrowl 8y ago
      That's great for tanks or whatever it is you have in mind but I'm not sure why you imagine this being deployed against hardened military targets. Obviously we have very different conceptions of how a weapon like this could be deployed.
    - gnat 8y ago
      What is "bloom on the target"? Thanks!
      - gotocake 8y ago

m45t3r 8y ago

You can track a bullet though, this seems to be completely invisible to naked eye so you could put a house on fire (since it seems to be pretty hot) and nobody would know.

bitxbitxbitcoin 8y ago
Serious question: assuming the structure is burned beyond recognition, would arson specialists be able to tell if a house were put on fire in this manner?
- anigbrowl 8y ago
  No, though they might be able to tell you where the fire started.
gotocake 8y ago
Lasers only travel in straight lines, and any moisture or dust will reveal its trajectory and draw a straight line to the shooter. Worse, you need to keep the laser on target for a while. With a .50 BMG sniper rifle you can be moving before the sound of the bullet reaches the target.
- maxander 8y ago
  No, an invisible infrared beam reflecting off of dust or water vapor is still invisible infrared light.
  - gotocake 8y ago
    Fair enough, but those wavelengths are visible with night vision gear. Either you work in visible wavelengths and worry about dust, or you work in IR and draw bright lines for anyone with NVG.
    - phonypc 8y ago
      It would have to be night time or otherwise dark and there would have to be enough dust/whatever in the air and you'd have to be expecting a laser attack. And then you'd have two seconds to follow the 'shot' back to its origin.
      - gotocake 8y ago
        In order... It would not have to be night time, modern NVG is quite adaptable. It would also be trivial to deliver something using the same tech as primative NVGs or basic FLIR as a countermeasure. Dust isn’t required with IR, the whole beam will be very visible on NVG. Where are you getting “2 seconds” from as the time necessary to kill someone with this laser?
        skeoh 8y ago
        I believe "2 seconds" is in reference to the following sentence in the article: > It can fire more than 1,000 “shots”, each lasting no more than two seconds. The implication being not that you have two seconds to kill someone but that you have two seconds to follow the beam from its destination to its origin.
        phonypc 8y ago
        Article states a 'shot' lasts no more than two seconds. Who said anything about killing? The use case seems to be incapacitation and starting fires. Why would particulate matter in the air not be required? There's plenty of video on youtube of IR laser pointer operation through night vision. It works the same as a visible laser. Given you have IR laser detecting equipment suitable for daytime use (I'm not convinced your could adapt existing night vision equipment to the task) that would still require you to be expecting a laser attack to deploy it. Come to think of it, it's not a given that the weapon even uses a wavelength visible to night vision devices. They don't cover all of infrared.

anigbrowl 8y ago

There's a certain irony in people on a technology site dismissing the deployment of an entirely new tactical option that offers several advantages. I'm particularly perplexed by your suggestion that a BMG rifle 'never runs out of juice' as if they came with infinite ammo or something. Consider this: if you get shot at by a BMG you'll know about it, and possibly be able to figure out where the attack came from. If you just have things silently bursting into flame it may not even be obvious that an attack is underway. And rechargeable batteries strike me as having distinct advantages over expendable ammo. Every building and vehicle is an ammo locker.

kazinator 8y ago
A laser's aim doesn't require elevation to compensate for drop. Its aim is also not perturbed by wind, though affected by refraction due to air temperature differences, and attenuated by smoke/fog/dust, which also reveal its path.
- gotocake 8y ago
  It’s also seriously impacted by bloom on the target, which is trivial to produce with even moderate shielding. There’s a reason some very smart people still struggle with adaptive optics and phase arrays, instead of revealing comical sci-fi “weapons”.
  - anigbrowl 8y ago
    That's great for tanks or whatever it is you have in mind but I'm not sure why you imagine this being deployed against hardened military targets. Obviously we have very different conceptions of how a weapon like this could be deployed.
  - gnat 8y ago
    What is "bloom on the target"? Thanks!
    - gotocake 8y ago