Laser Destroys Targets More Than 1Km Away

[Sionyn]

A German company has brought us one step closer to the kinds of shoot outs only seen in Sci-Fi films. Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall Defence recently tested a 50kW, high-energy laser at their proving ground facility in Switzerland. First, the system sliced through a 15mm- (~0.6 inches) thick steel girder from a kilo meter away. Then, from a distance of two kilo meters, it shot down a handful of drones as they nose-dived toward the surface at 50 meters per second.

http://singularityhub.com/2013/01/07/german-military-laser-destroys-targets-over-1km-away/

[TriodeTiger]

* TriodeTiger wears mirrors in to combat

[RCMR]

Yes, I always thought that laser weapons were a bit naff myself.

Too much power (so that they deliver a killer-punch almost immediately) and they end up ionizing the air through which they pass -- thus causing major scattering and a loss of beam coherence.

Not so much power and they can be defeated by a nice shiny reflective surface.

To quote "A Christmas Story"...   Ralphie, you'll shoot your eye out! 

[houdini]

At those powers a mirror does nothing.   The Boeing YAL-1 was more for "punching" missiles out of the air rather than burning them as some believe.  Photons do have some weight and it gets to a point where its no longer negligible.

[peter.mitchell]

at the power levels of those lasers, even the tiniest amount of energy absorption will get stupidly hot, reduce its reflectivity, then get more hot and poof.

[Geeky907]

at the power levels of those lasers, even the tiniest amount of energy absorption will get stupidly hot, reduce its reflectivity, then get more hot and poof.

Correct me if im wrong but wouldnt this effect happen "At the Speed of light" Also? 

[G7PSK]

Its not mirrors that will stop the lasers it's ceramic tiles as used on the space shuttle, after some military introduces to the front line such a system all missiles will get a coating of such tiles.

[SeanB]

Ablative coatings as needed for reentry will provide protection, as after all they have to dissipate the energy introduced by the really big engine below during boost. big engine no longer there and a small payload along with the debris of the deliberate destruction of the booster ( radar clutter to mask the vehicle) along with the dummy warheads means  the laser is a suboptimal item. Remember Saddam made the claim that his $20000 missiles destroyed $4 million of the American Patriot antimissile defences ( fired 2 at a time so that there would be a higher probability of a hit than the average 50%) and were a success. 2 second of beam will do nothing to the shield other than make a dent, the material ablated will absorb the beam very effectively.

[Bored@Work]

Its not mirrors that will stop the lasers it's ceramic tiles as used on the space shuttle, after some military introduces to the front line such a system all missiles will get a coating of such tiles.

At the expense of other features, so the next cycle of measures and countermeasures starts.

[mark5009]

Hmmm.  Still a long way to go.  These puppies are huge, heavy and use radar meaning that they are essentially useless without 100% air superiority.  And I wonder if they run off batteries or mains?  If batteries, I wonder what their operational life in the field might be?  No mention in the article.  Seems like they are much like the pulse-cannons used in "The Empire Strikes Back"  :-)