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Applied Energetics tried to sell a weaponized electrolaser as a sort of medium-range taser, right around 1st Fallujah, when things were really going into the th

Applied Energetics tried to sell a weaponized electrolaser as a sort of medium-range taser, right around 1st Fallujah, when things were really going into the thunder pot with great brown velocity[1]. I don't think they really had a working product in terms of "thing you can predictably make and which works most of the time". The idea itself is extremely compelling as a Less Than Lethal technology, though, and I'm always sort of curious why it hasn't been re-approached with newer laser tech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser [1] The whole Iraq adventure was a pointless slurry, but I remember 2004 was when even the Rah Rah people finally quieted the hell down. It seemed like that was when every military unit in theatre was panic buying whatever wacky technology they could find.

generalizations 3y ago
I imagine they discovered that a laser powerful enough to create a plasma channel was also powerful enough to burn the person it was pointed at.
ftxbro 3y ago
> "Iraq adventure was a pointless slurry" I wonder where 'pointless slurry' is meant on the scale of justifications or rationalizations of war? Maybe more favorably than 'quagmire' but less than 'good shoot'?
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > I wonder where 'pointless slurry' is meant on the scale of justifications or rationalizations of war? “pointless” = “without decent justification/rationalization", AFAICT, and “slurry” is about conditions, not justification. > Maybe more favorably than 'quagmire' “Slurry” seems to indicate a similar assessment of condition to “quagmire”, but maybe with less implication of stickiness? “Quagmire” doesn’t seem to be address justification, its orthogonal.
- George83728 3y ago
  A quagmire is something you get stuck in, it implies a sort of stagnation. A slurry is what happens when you really stir up the shit.

generalizations 3y ago

I imagine they discovered that a laser powerful enough to create a plasma channel was also powerful enough to burn the person it was pointed at.

ftxbro 3y ago

> "Iraq adventure was a pointless slurry" I wonder where 'pointless slurry' is meant on the scale of justifications or rationalizations of war? Maybe more favorably than 'quagmire' but less than 'good shoot'?

dragonwriter 3y ago
> I wonder where 'pointless slurry' is meant on the scale of justifications or rationalizations of war? “pointless” = “without decent justification/rationalization", AFAICT, and “slurry” is about conditions, not justification. > Maybe more favorably than 'quagmire' “Slurry” seems to indicate a similar assessment of condition to “quagmire”, but maybe with less implication of stickiness? “Quagmire” doesn’t seem to be address justification, its orthogonal.
George83728 3y ago
A quagmire is something you get stuck in, it implies a sort of stagnation. A slurry is what happens when you really stir up the shit.