3 ms·
Lasers are not "all weather" weapons as far as I am aware. Clouds, snow, fog, rain, and just humidity all degrade their performance greatly.
by consumer451 7mo ago
Lasers are not "all weather" weapons as far as I am aware. Clouds, snow, fog, rain, and just humidity all degrade their performance greatly.
- O3marchnative 7mo agoThe recently announced "Golden Dome" project intends to get around this issue by putting a vast constellation of satellites into orbit. Each satellite would likely need a serious source of power in order to use its laser. Assuming that's just an engineering problem, then the issue becomes coverage. That is, depending on the adversary's capabilities, you'd need an absolutely massive constellation in orbit [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dome_(missile_defense_system)#Architecture_and_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dome_(missile_defense_s...
- consumer451 7mo agoThis is such an insane plan, and I don't mean that in a good way. For one thing, it can do little to nothing about low flying nuclear tipped cruise missiles, especially in less than ideal weather. These already exist, so the Golden Dome system is already inadequate on day one.
- gpderetta 7mo agoThe idea has been around for a while: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Pebbles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Pebbles > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dome_(missile_defense_s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dome_(missile_defense_s... > President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the United States Armed Forces to construct the [...] Golden Dome Well, that's just taking the piss!
- Voultapher 7mo agoThe linked article covers that in depth, it's not implausible to punch a hole through a storm with pulsed laser of that class. Honestly we don't know enough about these systems to know their operational limits but we know weather will play a role.