US Navy just tested in the Persian gulf - ship mounted laser weapon

[Calz]

*yawn*

Russia has demonstrated it's ability to shut down systems on a US ship (where they got that technology is up for debate) ...

... I expect the same technology would shut down a laser as well ... but simply shooting from the hip (not laser).

[KiwiElf]

LOL... "tested for the first time" - I seriously doubt that. Such weaponry has been reportedly used for well over a decade and at least during the Gulf War.

[Bob]

Here is an example of ONLY a 40 watt infra-red laser roasting a marshmallow..

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y_5UhQeVP4s

If anyone thought that in the OP I was kidding about the roasting ability of this weapons system.

the Navy document submitted to Congress stating requirements, suggested power levels, deployment uses is HERE

The laser weapon is a 30 kilowatt output beam device, nicknamed Laser Weapon System (LaWS).

It is 1500 times the power of the small laser melting the marshmallow in the video above. Meaning it has a bigger beam, it can be swept, and it has RANGE. It can take out missile systems shot at the ship from a distance.

And if anyone should have the misfortune to directly look at the beam (or a reflection) while on the assaulting vessel which is attacking the 'protected ship', just recall what happened to the marshmallows.. IN the case of that much power, 1500X, it would be over, blind, in less than a second.

[Bob]

Posted by KiwiElf (here)
LOL... "tested for the first time" - I seriously doubt that. Such weaponry has been reportedly used for well over a decade and at least during the Gulf War.

TESTED in the PERSIAN gulf, to make a point - the fibre lasers have been around a LONG TIME..

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by Calz (here)
*yawn*

Russia has demonstrated it's ability to shut down systems on a US ship (where they got that technology is up for debate) ...

... I expect the same technology would shut down a laser as well ... but simply shooting from the hip (not laser).

Ya as funny as a Jedi wielding a second hand light sabre

If it wasn't a statement about deploying in the Persian gulf, what was it? Next stop is on the Humvees for on the battlefield..

[Calz]

Yes ... but ...

there is technology out there that can rip the planet apart ...

don't forget this is ... what ... the 7th rendering of humanity here (after we have developed far enough to destroy our civilization with technology the last 6 times).


Point being if we don't do something to keep our level of spirituality level with our technology we will fail again ... and again ...


Isn't that obvious to everyone here???

[Bob]

Posted by Calz (here)
Yes ... but ...

there is technology out there that can rip the planet apart ...

don't forget this is ... what ... the 7th rendering of humanity here (after we have developed far enough to destroy our civilization with technology the last 6 times).


Point being if we don't do something to keep our level of spirituality level with our technology we will fail again ... and again ...


Isn't that obvious to everyone here???

The tech on the bigger nuclear powered boats can take out those russian fighters AT a distance before they can light up an EMP.. Fascinating concept.. FAST war, faster than missiles..

I 1000% doubt if anyone has the data and follows it with Fibre laser weapons systems.. that they have ANY capacity to do ANY damage to the planet. The power isn't there.. The amount of energy needed to melt rock on the earth, to come anywhere close to what happens in a volcano, a lava flow.. put it in perspective..

Won't happen. What these systems will do is LEVEL quite fast the battlefield. AND intimidate the enemy. The gadflies such as py-rats holding up marine shipping commerce, and terrorists attempting to sabotage a naval vessel.. one can assume that naval commanders, and ship captains have said nope, won't take being the rag any more. It WILL stop naval terrorism, fast, with these devices in place.

War and Spirituality

HawkEye and Father Mulcahy had an interesting discussion about that..

(from my thread Signpost up Ahead, your next stop?)

Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

[Calz]

Posted by Bob (here)

The tech on the bigger nuclear powered boats can take out those russian fighters AT a distance before they can light up an EMP..

Do we know it was done with EMP?

Old technology and I expect most modern weaponry would be protected ...

[Bob]

Posted by Calz (here)

Posted by Bob (here)

The tech on the bigger nuclear powered boats can take out those russian fighters AT a distance before they can light up an EMP..

Do we know it was done with EMP?

Old technology and I expect most modern weaponry would be protected ...

I recall hearing it was EMP - high powered microwave induced EMP.. this type of system:

https://dropdabomb.wordpress.com/ described on this page talks about different methods to create massive high power microwave signals, which with the intense breakdown of space itself due to the high power in the electromagnetic field from the microwave, all that energy duplicates the reaction from a directed nuclear energy device..

Interestingly enough I had the misfortune having all my computers taken out by a silent black helicopter spouting one of the microwave pulse cannons.. interesting story.. THAT happened back in 1996.. so again, the technology has matured immensely..

Russia has pioneered in the microwave ultra-high powered device called GYROTRON - specifically designed to create microwave plasma able to light off a fusion reaction.. Being on the receiving end of a gyrotron pulse dumped into a linear shotgun antenna is no fun, not for anyone with electronics.. The Russian action could be taken as a provocative act-of-war.. So if they ended up being laser punched after that stunt, trying it again, maybe they will sit up and take notice, two can play at that game..

This video shows the US version, the baby version of the russian microwave emp weapon..
worth connecting those dots.. (2 minutes)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0mjua2e8Y7k

[Meggings]

"Laser Weapon System (LaWS) was installed aboard USS Ponce this summer as part of a $40 million research and development effort from ONR and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to test the viability of directed energy weapons..."

The LaWS system was clandestinely used in an attempt to down the Malaysian Flight M-370. It was not deployed this summer, for last winter I downloaded the picture below from some website, showing the LaWS weapon.

Attachment 28261

[Rocky_Shorz]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=StC9nRB_AVY

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=sPl_xKPI_5w

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=FdYK-Ha2eSE

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1DhEssy3NWw

[Linda Brown]

Posted by Calz (here)
Yes ... but ...

there is technology out there that can rip the planet apart ...

don't forget this is ... what ... the 7th rendering of humanity here (after we have developed far enough to destroy our civilization with technology the last 6 times).



Point being if we don't do something to keep our level of spirituality level with our technology we will fail again ... and again ...


Isn't that obvious to everyone here???

Why do you assume that it isn't obvious to some of us here? Linda

[GK76]

Perhaps we should Ponce/Pense(think) about light, and its destructive and healing ability in our exploration of the new world/age of discovery. We, like the Ponce de Leon are also looking to establish a Puerto Rico (Rich Port) as we become Juan.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Bob]

A few more images of the LaWS device

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=D0DbgNju2wE

Fleet commanders particularly are interested in deck-mounted laser weapons like LaWS against enemy small attack boats, aerial drones, and other asymmetric threats.

The LaWS demonstrations are expected to lead to solid-state laser weapons for vessels such as guided-missile destroyers and the Littoral Combat Ship in the early 2020s, Navy officials say. LaWS-develop technologies also could be applied to airborne and ground-based laser weapons.

Shipboard laser weapons not only offer precision and speed, but are safer to operate than traditional deck-mounted weapons because lasers don't rely on dangerous propellants and gunpowder. Lasers run on electricity and can be fired as long as there is power.

So there is the issue, if power is taken out with an EMP, both the laser systems AND the conventional systems (propellant weapons and rocket/missiles) are damaged or disabled. A perfect reason why Russia has chosen to use EMP (highpower microwave) disabling weapons during an attack run..

"They also cost less to build, install, and fire than traditional kinetic weapons like expensive missiles, Navy officials say. “At less than a dollar per shot, there's no question about the value LaWS provides" says rear Admiral Klunder, chief of Naval Research for the US Navy. (www.onr.navy.mil)

Going public to emphasise the results, the researchers have completed a major milestone, with three months of at-sea testing of this shipboard high-energy laser weapon.

It seems pretty clear, the military is going strongly into laser defence systems - at sea, in the air, and on land.

A few more pix of the LaWS system, bench top configuration showing much of the support equipment that is needed for operating it..

(Contributions of material Military and Aerospace News)

Question - why Persian Gulf?
Iran unleashed swarms of attack boats against Navy forces in the Persian Gulf back in 2008. The Persian Gulf then is a perfect theatre to test and utilise effectively for protection.

Question - is there a man making decisions, pulling the trigger?
The LaWS fire control will come from the radar of a Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), which is a standard shipboard Gatling gun designed to shred incoming missiles and aircraft.

[Linda Brown]

Bob... You said

"Going public to emphasise the results, the researchers have completed a major milestone, with three months of at-sea testing of this shipboard high-energy laser weapon.

It seems pretty clear, the military is going strongly into laser defence systems - at sea, in the air, and on land.

I would suggest that the long term planners of this system were considering a world wide defense system and these are just backyard prototype tests.

It may be that the long term worry is the proper development of something that could protect us from an incoming threat to this planet. Linda

[Bob]

Posted by Linda Brown (here)
Bob... You said

"Going public to emphasise the results, the researchers have completed a major milestone, with three months of at-sea testing of this shipboard high-energy laser weapon.

It seems pretty clear, the military is going strongly into laser defence systems - at sea, in the air, and on land.

I would suggest that the long term planners of this system were considering a world wide defense system and these are just backyard prototype tests.

It may be that the long term worry is the proper development of something that could protect us from an incoming threat to this planet. Linda

Hi Linda, that thought reminds me of SDI, strategic defence initiative, or Star Wars pushed by former President Reagan, '83 wasn't it?

Defend from space attacks and create a situation for global unification to fight the space enemy (ultimate flag operation maybe too).. Hard telling.

There's not enough energy in the lasers to push away an asteroid or comet.. Microwave EMP can bring down electronics, could possibly disrupt different types of gravity propulsion systems.. And there are MASSIVE gigawatt phased array microwave systems setup across the planet..

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ApTnYwh5KvE

[Bob]

Update - After the 30 kilowatt laser(s) have been tested successfully, Navy deploys 150 kilowatt system.

Function: to be able to wipe out "drone swarms" instantaneously.

No doubt this type of laser system will be deployed anywhere "drone swarms" pose a threat, (military bases and key government buildings).

Additional uses: swarming maned attack boats, and incoming missiles, artillery shells, and attack aircraft.

(Link)

History

The U.S. military began to show real interest in directed-energy weapons in the 1980s, as part of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.

In its early concept, SDI was seen as using orbiting lasers - first X-ray, then chemical - as part of a layered defense to destroy enemy missiles from launch through the exoatmospheric mid-course phase.

Ultimately, the idea was scrapped for reasons of insufficient beam power and the need for hundreds of satellite-based lasers with low expectations of efficiency.

"We got into solid-state lasers while looking at a commercial application for next-generation photolithography and found we could scale those to tactically relevant powers," Hixson says. "We were the first to demonstrate technology over 100 kilowatts in 2009 on a program called the Joint High Power Solid State Laser [JHPSSL].

"Using that technology, we more recently [2011] demonstrated a maritime laser at sea. We hope to put lasers on surface ships and aircraft for self-defense."

The top leadership of the Army, Navy, and Air Force see high-energy lasers as a primary weapon system in the coming decades - especially with the savings on ammunition, logistics, maintenance, range- and endurance-limiting weight, and high precision with little risk of collateral damage.

In a smaller, budget-constrained military, high-energy lasers are seen as force multipliers, with the ability to "dial" the force of the beam up or down to meet specific mission requirements reducing the need for multiple weapons in theater.

Is the US the only laser weapons developer - no.

There is concern that the U.S. is falling behind rather than leading in the development and fielding of high-energy laser technology.

"Just two weeks ago, [the destroyer] USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98) and her attached helicopter were repeatedly targeted by a laser from an Iranian-flagged merchant vessel. Last week 11 commercial airliners were targeted by lasers in the vicinity of a New Jersey airport," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.

Many other countries are working on offensive and defensive directed-energy weapons.

Israel, China, and Russia, in particular, have invested billions into high-energy laser research.

The Technology -

Fiber and free-electron lasers

Future naval defensive and offensive directed-energy weapons will focus on fiber laser and free-electron laser components.

The Fiber laser system uses multiple modules connected with fiber optics to create a massive high power beam. Fiber optic "amplifier chains" are used as well for boosting the output power.