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> the US is uniquely public about these high-budget prestige projects for internal political reasons. I don't know if there's prestige in being 7 years late to

> the US is uniquely public about these high-budget prestige projects for internal political reasons. I don't know if there's prestige in being 7 years late to the party. Rheinmetall demonstrated this tech in 2012. https://newatlas.com/rheinmetall-laser-test/25504/ https://newatlas.com/rheinmetall-laser-test/25504/

adventured 8y ago
That's pretty amusing. The US has been far ahead of everyone else in military laser tech for decades. Rheinmetall didn't demonstrate what you're implying. You're conflating two entirely different systems. The US has so many laser programs that predate the Rheinmetall example, it's hard to decide where to start. HELLADS, AN/SEQ-3, Boeing YAL-1, HEL-MD, THEL, MLD, etc. Like this one: "On March 18, 2009 Northrop Grumman announced that its engineers in Redondo Beach had successfully built and tested an electric laser capable of producing a 100-kilowatt ray of light, powerful enough to destroy cruise missiles, artillery, rockets and mortar rounds." Or: Precursor to the Boeing YAL-1: "The Airborne Laser Laboratory was a less-powerful prototype installed in a Boeing NKC-135A. It shot down several missiles in tests conducted in the 1980s" THEL: "The Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL, was a laser developed for military use, also known as the Nautilus laser system. The mobile version is the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, or MTHEL. In 1996, the United States and Israel entered into an agreement to produce a cooperative THEL called the Demonstrator, which would utilize deuterium fluoride chemical laser technologies. In 2000 and 2001 THEL shot down 28 Katyusha artillery rockets and five artillery shells. On November 4, 2002, THEL shot down an incoming artillery shell. The prototype weapon was roughly the size of six city buses, made up of modules that held a command center, radar and a telescope for tracking targets, the chemical laser itself, fuel and reagent tanks, and a rotating mirror to reflect its beam toward speeding targets. It was discontinued in 2005"
azernik 8y ago
None of this stuff is yet operational. In any of these cases.

adventured 8y ago

That's pretty amusing. The US has been far ahead of everyone else in military laser tech for decades. Rheinmetall didn't demonstrate what you're implying. You're conflating two entirely different systems. The US has so many laser programs that predate the Rheinmetall example, it's hard to decide where to start. HELLADS, AN/SEQ-3, Boeing YAL-1, HEL-MD, THEL, MLD, etc. Like this one: "On March 18, 2009 Northrop Grumman announced that its engineers in Redondo Beach had successfully built and tested an electric laser capable of producing a 100-kilowatt ray of light, powerful enough to destroy cruise missiles, artillery, rockets and mortar rounds." Or: Precursor to the Boeing YAL-1: "The Airborne Laser Laboratory was a less-powerful prototype installed in a Boeing NKC-135A. It shot down several missiles in tests conducted in the 1980s" THEL: "The Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL, was a laser developed for military use, also known as the Nautilus laser system. The mobile version is the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, or MTHEL. In 1996, the United States and Israel entered into an agreement to produce a cooperative THEL called the Demonstrator, which would utilize deuterium fluoride chemical laser technologies. In 2000 and 2001 THEL shot down 28 Katyusha artillery rockets and five artillery shells. On November 4, 2002, THEL shot down an incoming artillery shell. The prototype weapon was roughly the size of six city buses, made up of modules that held a command center, radar and a telescope for tracking targets, the chemical laser itself, fuel and reagent tanks, and a rotating mirror to reflect its beam toward speeding targets. It was discontinued in 2005"

azernik 8y ago

None of this stuff is yet operational. In any of these cases.