Navy tests laser gun by zapping motorboat off California coast

[Nate-ForLiberty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awsQs4ct0c4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/laser-gun-us-navy_n_847484.html




For the first time in its history, the U.S. Navy fired a laser ray gun mounted on a warship, zapping -- and setting fire to -- an empty motorboat as it bobbed in the Pacific Ocean.
The test demonstration (http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2011/Maritime-Laser-MLD-Test.aspx), which took place off the Southern California coast near San Nicholas Island, could mark a new era in Naval weaponry, officials said.
“This is very important to the Navy’s future weapon systems,” said Rear Adm. Nevin Carr, chief of the Office of Naval Research. “By turning energy into a weapon, we become more efficient and more effective.”
Built by Northrop Grumman Corp. in Redondo Beach, the laser system could be used to blast apart incoming cruise missiles, zap enemy drones out of the sky or possibly even shoot down ballistic missiles one day, Carr said.

[HOLLYWOOD]

What a waste of 2 very nice 200HP Mercury outboard motors. Yah think they could of shot the laser at a Row Boat or something headed for the scrap yard?

[dannno]

Really?? I thought this technology had been around forever..

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2011/01/dino20riders.jpg

[surf]

What a waste of 2 very nice 200HP Mercury outboard motors. Yah think they could of shot the laser at a Row Boat or something headed for the scrap yard?
thought the exact same thing. that's probably a $100k boat in navy dollars ($200k to replace).

whatever the HEL they were shooting there, it didn't seem much more sophisticated or powerful than the mirrors and sun kids use to burn spiders

[Humanae Libertas]

Really?? I thought this technology had been around forever..

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2011/01/dino20riders.jpg

Is that concept artwork for the new Jurassic Park movie?

:D

[pcosmar]

They hate Mercury.

or they need an excuse for new ones.

Pretty dumb anyway. A .50 cal through the block would be more effective.
That could be countered by a guy with a fire extinguisher.

[Romulus]

thought the exact same thing. that's probably a $100k boat in navy dollars ($200k to replace).

whatever the HEL they were shooting there, it didn't seem much more sophisticated or powerful than the mirrors and sun kids use to burn spiders

chump change to our overlords.

[Kludge]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtzRAjW6KO0

^ > Navy lasers

[dannno]

Is that concept artwork for the new Jurassic Park movie?

:D

It is from an old mid-80s cartoon called "Dino Riders"

[devil21]

That's about the most proof less video Ive ever seen. A boat catches a small fire on the motor and we're supposed to believe it's a "laser gun" from a Navy ship causing it? Proof fail.

[eduardo89]

I was expecting something much more impressive. Something more Death Star laser like

[Nate-ForLiberty]

Forgot to post link to the article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/laser-gun-us-navy_n_847484.html

[muzzled dogg]

It is from an old mid-80s cartoon called "Dino Riders"

damn i remember that shittttttttt :eek:

[DamianTV]

What a waste of 2 very nice 200HP Mercury outboard motors. Yah think they could of shot the laser at a Row Boat or something headed for the scrap yard?

They think they have money to burn because it isnt theyre money they are spending on shit like this.

[nobody's_hero]

I think this is actually quite cool (if it works, that is). What saddens me is that this technology probably won't be used for defense but instead for going around the world and fighting for regime change.

[acptulsa]

Pretty dumb anyway. A .50 cal through the block would be more effective.
That could be countered by a guy with a fire extinguisher.

And if he has a mirror and is really good, he can turn this attack right back on the ship generating the beam. Not that it will matter, as warships are made of metal and it looks like it would take this thing a week to get through the hull.

They shoot a boat sitting dead in the water and talk of taking out incoming missiles. Um, at the speed a missile flies you don't get to put the beam on it for a full second. How many more billions does this technology need before it can, indeed, be considered the equal of a .50 caliber, seventy year old BAR?

The only thing the Navy will be using this on anytime soon is civilian-style boats. Anything else is close enough to impervious. Ought to be a Coast Guard project. The Navy is for handling enemy warships, not cigarette boats.

[fisharmor]

Oh, man, I can't watch the video but I'm noticing a lack of info in that blurb...
How many kilowatts? Less than 10 or so (all you'd need to start a fire), and it's something heavy industry has been doing for about 30 years.
How far away? The more distant, the crazier the optics problem gets, and the more likely it is that the temperature difference caused by opening a door will throw them out of whack.

acptulsa is absolutely right (except that the BAR was 30-06). You can take out a motorboat with a $5 bullet. And at the same range, too.

[acptulsa]

acptulsa is absolutely right (except that the BAR was 30-06). You can take out a motorboat with a $5 bullet. And at the same range, too.

Yeah, optics. Lasers in space are one thing, lasers in the atmosphere are something else.

And we're both right about something else, too. The BAR was made in two calibers.

[acptulsa]

http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii95/acptulsa/LIBERTYRIDER011.jpg

Look on top of the case. That one would not be the .30 cal. version...