5 ms·
Next: drones that can detect a laser source and point a mirror back to it.
by Udik 6y ago
Next: drones that can detect a laser source and point a mirror back to it.
- nradov 6y agoMirrors are not an effective defense.
- YarickR2 6y agoI wonder about smoke, then )
- ThrowawayR2 6y agoSeems doubtful. Unless the drone is stationary, it would fly right out of it's own smoke cloud. Even with smoke, it's a pretty good bet that the total thickness of smoke particles in the path of the beam is less than that of a coat of paint. No problem for a 150 kW laser to cut through.
- phreeza 6y agoWater vapor might work. It takes ~3MJ to boil a liter of water from room temperature, so if the drone can put water into the laser path somehow, it may slow down the process significantly. Also depends on how long the laser can keep up the firing.
- dntbnmpls 6y agoWhat about smoke and mirrors?
- mcphage 6y agoWhy not?
- ThrowawayR2 6y agoHere's a video of a 500 W laser cutting a set of mirrors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-VlVmBZGI4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-VlVmBZGI4
- mcphage 6y agoFrom a few inches away from the focusing lens, yeah.
- ThrowawayR2 6y agoIf the ship-mounted laser is powerful enough to take down a drone, it's already delivering way, way more power at a distance than the cutter shown in the video does at a few inches.
- econcon 6y agoMostly because mirrors aren't perfect. Let's say if a mirror can reflect 99% of the light that hits it, and we shot it with 1kw laser. That means 100w is still heating the mirror and it might melt or shatter it.
- mcphage 6y agoStill, that would require a laser blast 100x as powerful to take down the drone. Also: what would that do to the effective range of the weapon? Plus, depending on how much control the attacking drone has, that's also 99% of the beam being deflected back at the ship with the laser.
- rad_gruchalski 6y agoNo. It’s 10W. Not 100W.
- econcon 6y agoOfc, it's just an example. I realized later I made mistake, till then edit window was gone.