3 ms·

Can't a laser be defeated by deflecting the light or reflecting it? Or dispersing it? Afterall, its just a focused heat beam of electromagnetic radiation.

scottyah 4y ago
The weaponized ones are rarely just in the visible spectrum. But yeah just like radar there’ll probably be a lot of cat and mouse games
somerandomqaguy 4y ago
I'm not an expert in laser systems but just from my layman's understanding: A polished mirror surface might slow the heat build up a little bit but the best mirrors on the planet will still heat up if you're throwing enough energy at it; no mirror has a 0% absorption rate. What's more, any imperfection on the surface will act as an focal point for the heat to build up; a spec of dust, a dew drop, a little oil from your fingertip, anything that can absorb the heat from the laser basically turns it into a hot spot that the laser will burn through rather quickly.
- picsao 4y ago
saulrh 4y ago
Small imperfections on a reflective surface will absorb energy, heat up, and cause damage, causing more imperfections which absorb even more energy and heat even more rapidly. Positive feedback loop. The emitter gets around it by keeping the beam diffuse and focusing it onto the target downrange; you can very reasonably field a laser with a half-meter aperture and a one-centimeter spot size. Dispersal requires consumables. You leave consumables behind when you move and you have to move because the laser can keep going indefinitely, so it's a losing proposition. Consumables are heavy and limited.
- asdff 4y ago
  You can't just have a drone deploy a reasonable enough mirror that tracks the beam wherever it goes? So what if there is an imperfection if the drone is cheap and you can have a replacement come online instantly behind it with a fresh mirror. If it costs less energy to make the drone than it does to fire this high powered laser downrange, you win the war over time.
Jensson 4y ago
A mirror is like a trampoline, there is a limit to how much it can reflect before it breaks. Or an electric circuit if you want a closer comparison, at low loads you wont notice any problems but as you turn up the voltage it will start to absorb energy and at high enough levels it will break.

scottyah 4y ago

The weaponized ones are rarely just in the visible spectrum. But yeah just like radar there’ll probably be a lot of cat and mouse games

somerandomqaguy 4y ago

I'm not an expert in laser systems but just from my layman's understanding: A polished mirror surface might slow the heat build up a little bit but the best mirrors on the planet will still heat up if you're throwing enough energy at it; no mirror has a 0% absorption rate. What's more, any imperfection on the surface will act as an focal point for the heat to build up; a spec of dust, a dew drop, a little oil from your fingertip, anything that can absorb the heat from the laser basically turns it into a hot spot that the laser will burn through rather quickly.

picsao 4y ago

saulrh 4y ago

Small imperfections on a reflective surface will absorb energy, heat up, and cause damage, causing more imperfections which absorb even more energy and heat even more rapidly. Positive feedback loop. The emitter gets around it by keeping the beam diffuse and focusing it onto the target downrange; you can very reasonably field a laser with a half-meter aperture and a one-centimeter spot size. Dispersal requires consumables. You leave consumables behind when you move and you have to move because the laser can keep going indefinitely, so it's a losing proposition. Consumables are heavy and limited.

asdff 4y ago
You can't just have a drone deploy a reasonable enough mirror that tracks the beam wherever it goes? So what if there is an imperfection if the drone is cheap and you can have a replacement come online instantly behind it with a fresh mirror. If it costs less energy to make the drone than it does to fire this high powered laser downrange, you win the war over time.

Jensson 4y ago

A mirror is like a trampoline, there is a limit to how much it can reflect before it breaks. Or an electric circuit if you want a closer comparison, at low loads you wont notice any problems but as you turn up the voltage it will start to absorb energy and at high enough levels it will break.