After decades and decades of research and experimenting, the time has finally come to add deadly lasers to U.S. Navy ships’ arsenals, the sea service has decided. That’s right, the Office of Naval Research is moving forward with a plan to arm ships with solid state lasers capable of taking out small enemy vessels that […]
Lasers and Ray Guns
Imagine a weapon sailing over an enemy city or military target and effectively paralyzing all electronics in its wake while causing almost no physical damage? Sci-fi writers and military planners have dreamed of such things for years. The problem is, the electromagnetic pulse often associated with cooking electronic systems is usually generated by the detonation of a […]
Last month, you read here about the prospects for a new laser countermeasure that defense contractor ITT hopes could protect Army helicopters from missiles. Long story short, here’s how it works: A sensor detects a launch, slews a laser onto the vector of the incoming missile, and then blinds the sensors in the weapon’s nosecone […]
So, BAE Systems and Boeing have teamed up to add lethal lasers to the already tricked out Mk 38 chain gun system used for close-in defense on U.S. Navy ships. In March, BAE — maker of the MK 38 system (shown above) — recieved a contract to build a demo laser system to show that […]
So, the U.S. Army has begun the process of choosing a new generation of laser countermeasures to protect low-flying military aircraft from 21st Century shoulder fired missiles. Current IR countermeasures found on Army helos aren’t effective against all types of heat-seeking missiles. Meanwhile, at about 200-pounds, the more effective, directional laser-based countermeasures like the AN/AAQ-24 […]
