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I was a little underwhelmed though.

32 MEGA WATTS!!! and even then..

Only shoots down a tiny "drone" at a range of just 2miles.

Even then it took so long.

Something like an F-16 could probably fire it's air-to-ground missile(s) and stay out of the lasers range....

Maybe if they bring it up to 100 mega watt...
 
Tabish said:
I was a little underwhelmed though.

32 MEGA WATTS!!! and even then..

Only shoots down a tiny "drone" at a range of just 2miles.

Even then it took so long.

Something like an F-16 could probably fire it's air-to-ground missile(s) and stay out of the lasers range....

Maybe if they bring it up to 100 mega watt...
Click to expand...

It isn't designed to be an offensive weapon or even to shoot down planes, it's designed to be a defensive weapon purely for close-in missile defense aboard ships. A ship's first line of defense is killing anything before it can get a missile away, usually with its own missile. Then it has long-range missiles designed to shoot down other missiles. Then it has short range missiles that are designed to shoot down other missiles. The very last line of defense is a big machine gun, the Phalanx system they mentioned in the article, that is purely designed tos hoot down missiles at close range. That is only a last line of defense if a missile has gotten through all other counter measures, and ideally is never even used, but even when it is used, it's only used for VERY short range.

That's what they're talking about this laser replacing: the very last line of defense that is only used in very close-range situations. It's not for shooting down planes, it's for shooting down missiles that are already too close for the ship to shoot down with its own missiles. I'm sure they are evaluating using bigger, stronger lasers for other tasks, but this laser is designed to only be used very close to the ship, and only with missiles that have already gotten through all other lines of defense.
 
noldevin said:
Couldn't this just be thwarted by using reflective paint?
Click to expand...

Hahaha I was thinking of that.

But you have to consider, even the best reflective coating is not 100% reflective.

Also, most modern drones are being designed for "stealth".

A shiny chrome mirror coat is basically saying "LOOK AT ME!!!!".
 
noldevin said:
Couldn't this just be thwarted by using reflective paint?
Click to expand...

Depends on the wavelength. For example, the wavelength emitted by CO2 lasers, 10,600nm, is absorbed by nearly everything and thus requires highly specialized optics.

-Trevor
 
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