High-powered military laser destroys truck

[Common]

Bob will appreciate this and some of the other older folks here. The scifi books we read as kids are coming to real life. I read about laser beams when I was a kid but I never thought id ever see one then.

High-powered military laser destroys truck from 1 mile away in ‘seconds’
Lockheed Martin (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lockheed-martin/) turned up the heat on its laser weapon technology and destroyed a truck from one mile away. The Maryland-based company’s test of the ATHENA laser weapon was the highest power ever recorded of a laser weapon of its type.
The Advanced Test High Energy Asset’s March 3 test destroyed its target in a “matter of seconds,” the company said in a statement. An image of the smoking vehicle accompanied its announcement.
“This test represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged laser weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks,” said (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2015/march/ssc-space-athena-laser.html) Keoki Jackson, chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lockheed-martin/).


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/6/lockheed-martins-high-powered-laser-weapon-destroy/#ixzz3TjakGvzZ

[Peter1469]

The Navy deployed a "laser" on its new destroyer.

[Common]

I know im trying to get my head wrapped around my scifi books coming to life. :)

Ray Bradbury had to be an alien in another life

[Peter1469]

I know im trying to get my head wrapped around my scifi books coming to life. :)

Ray Bradbury had to be an alien in another life

Maybe he had contact with the aliens who gave us the technology?

[Ravens Fan]

I know im trying to get my head wrapped around my scifi books coming to life. :)

Ray Bradbury had to be an alien in another life

What about Gene Roddenberry? His imagination has brought us countless technology such as cell phones and touchscreens.

I had bought a book by William Shatner many years back, a rather thick book, in which he describes how Star Trek has influenced today's technology. I moved 3 weeks after buying the book and still have yet to find it, but one day I'm going to finish it.

[BB-35]

Oh come on...the Japanese have had those laser trucks for YEARS,What do you think they fought Godzilla and all the other monsters with?

[BB-35]

I know im trying to get my head wrapped around my scifi books coming to life. :)

Ray Bradbury had to be an alien in another life
he was at least,a martian...

[Mr. Right]

http://www.cinemit.com/images/drevil.jpg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cinemit.com%2Fcategory%2Farti cles%2Fclassic-movie-quote-week&ei=KKf7VODoIsa2ogS784H4Dg&bvm=bv.87611401,d.cGU&psig=AFQjCNHh_stHDL4mGEr8uL7DeSMWtnOH5g&ust=1425864864804561)

You mean this kind of LAZER? Mmmmwhhhhahhhaaa

[southwest88]

The Navy deployed a "laser" on its new destroyer.

Yah, detect, point, hit, track & continue to target destruction/degradation is a tough task, in atmosphere, with a fast mover. In vacuum it's trivial, other than getting your laser & power source & support gear out of atmosphere. The laser tends to de-cohere in atmosphere - haze, mist, smoke, water vapor, etc.

So a few seconds of targeted fire to kill a truck is a start, but slow. For tactical purposes - a laser version of Iron Dome, more or less - you need multiple shots in seconds, lots of tracking, iD, ballistic calculations, many many lines of code. Doable, if we can get a high-speed charging system for the laser, & enough CPU cycles to throw @ the calculations. It's either that, or batteries of lasers & power sources, linked into a massive computational rig & fire control, etc.

It's still early days. Maybe massive capacitors & solar energy capture outside the atmosphere? Another possibility is pumping lasers with tac nukes - a nasty solution, but it certainly would yield a lot of power in a hurry. (This is another exo-atmospheric tactic, by the way.)

[Common]

What about Gene Roddenberry? His imagination has brought us countless technology such as cell phones and touchscreens.

I had bought a book by William Shatner many years back, a rather thick book, in which he describes how Star Trek has influenced today's technology. I moved 3 weeks after buying the book and still have yet to find it, but one day I'm going to finish it.

Roddenberry was an incredible scifi writer.

How about Frank Herbert, what kind of mind did he have to conjure and write Dune.

[southwest88]

Roddenberry was an incredible scifi writer.

How about Frank Herbert, what kind of mind did he have to conjure and write Dune.

Roddenberry was a screenwriter/producer. He created the Star Trek franchise, & worked on it throughout a long career. Mainly, I think he had a good eye for talent - actors, writers, screenwriters, etc.

Herbert was - TMK - exclusively a writer. Herbert broke a lot of ground in his field, & to this day I don't think a completely satisfactory movie of his main works has been produced. I liked the SyFy Channel's attempts - Dune & Children of Dune may simply not be translatable into movies, without a lot of editing, cutting, & simplification of story lines.

To make money, the stories have to appeal to a wide audience - or @ least, beyond the aficionados. Herbert dug more deeply into his world - my opinion.

[Bob]

Bob will appreciate this and some of the other older folks here. The scifi books we read as kids are coming to real life. I read about laser beams when I was a kid but I never thought id ever see one then.

High-powered military laser destroys truck from 1 mile away in ‘seconds’


Lockheed Martin (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lockheed-martin/) turned up the heat on its laser weapon technology and destroyed a truck from one mile away. The Maryland-based company’s test of the ATHENA laser weapon was the highest power ever recorded of a laser weapon of its type.
The Advanced Test High Energy Asset’s March 3 test destroyed its target in a “matter of seconds,” the company said in a statement. An image of the smoking vehicle accompanied its announcement.
“This test represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged laser weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks,” said (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2015/march/ssc-space-athena-laser.html) Keoki Jackson, chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lockheed-martin/).


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/6/lockheed-martins-high-powered-laser-weapon-destroy/#ixzz3TjakGvzZ




I first read up on lasers in 1957, so they have been around for a very long time.

My son works with super high powered lasers. He tells me that the lasers at his work could do that to a truck. They must be especially careful with the lasers at his job.

Maybe it is time I asked him for a tour of the plant.

[southwest88]

I first read up on lasers in 1957, so they have been around for a very long time. My son works with super high powered lasers. He tells me that the lasers at his work could do that to a truck. They must be especially careful with the lasers at his job.

Maybe it is time I asked him for a tour of the plant.

Maybe masers? Bell Labs filed a patent application for a proposed optical maser (what we now call a laser) in 1958. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser)

"Laser

"In 1957, Charles Hard Townes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hard_Townes) and Arthur Leonard Schawlow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Leonard_Schawlow), then at Bell Labs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs), began a serious study of the infrared laser. As ideas developed, they abandoned infrared (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared) radiation to instead concentrate upon visible light (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_light). The concept originally was called an "optical maser". In 1958, Bell Labs filed a patent application for their proposed optical maser; and Schawlow and Townes submitted a manuscript of their theoretical calculations to the Physical Review (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Review), published that year in Volume 112, Issue No. 6."

[BB-35]

Roddenberry was a screenwriter/producer. He created the Star Trek franchise, & worked on it throughout a long career. Mainly, I think he had a good eye for talent - actors, writers, screenwriters, etc.

Herbert was - TMK - exclusively a writer. Herbert broke a lot of ground in his field, & to this day I don't think a completely satisfactory movie of his main works has been produced. I liked the SyFy Channel's attempts - Dune & Children of Dune may simply not be translatable into movies, without a lot of editing, cutting, & simplification of story lines.

To make money, the stories have to appeal to a wide audience - or @ least, beyond the aficionados. Herbert dug more deeply into his world - my opinion.
I loved DUNE,read it numerous times,however I'm still not a big fan of books that need a glossary published in them...

I think ,however with the advances in CGI,A decent movie could be made,I just don't think the audience would be there in numbers to justify the expense

[Peter1469]

I know the Navy wants "lasers" because they believe that they would be essential to defeat swarm attacks. Ammunition based weapons run out of ammo.

[Adelaide]

The technology for military and space applications is shockingly advanced - you normally don't hear much about it, it seems.

[southwest88]

I loved DUNE,read it numerous times,however I'm still not a big fan of books that need a glossary published in them...

I think ,however with the advances in CGI,A decent movie could be made,I just don't think the audience would be there in numbers to justify the expense

Yah, it took me a coupla tries to get into Dune. Yep, I wound up looking back @ the glossary & maps a lot, initially. But it's no worse than keeping track of patronymics & matronymics, nicknames, pet names, relationships in a Tolstoy novel. Yah, Herbert approached Dune in the same spirit as the realist novelists did their material - but I think the result is worth the effort.

Could a better Dune movie be made? I think so - it would have been interesting to see Jodorowsky's take on it. Making Dune (the movie) drove a lot of people to the edge - it's how we got Zardoz & several other movies, as I recall. & the creative team (severally) & some of the concepts from Jodorowsky's efforts went on to Blade runner & The fifth element, maybe Alien?

So all in all, it was a good time for the FY community.

[Mac-7]

Look.

Have the Chinese said how much they will charge to manufacture them for us?