Airborne Laser Achieves Full Power In Ground Test

[f95toli]

There are many reasons why this won't work IRL. The main problem is that the range of a laser is very limited (I don't remember the number, 100 km at most?), you would need hundreds of aircraft in the air at all times to protect the whole nation.
And then you still need to deal with the problem of decoys and missiles launced from ships just a few km from the cost.
Any why use a missile in the first place? Why not simply hide a bomb in a container on a ship?

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: RaphaelVinceti
I think people are forgetting a few little details about this laser. It is designed to take down a LONG RANGE ballistic missile on its return into troposphere, after passing into the mesosphere.

That's just wrong. ABL is strictly boost phase. That's the whole point - nice bright signature to lock on to, lots of volatile fuel on board, get it before it MIRVs so you don't have lots small dim target and big target discrimination problems. And over enemy territory so you dan't have lots of bad stuff falling down on yourself.

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/
The Airborne Laser (ABL) will locate and track missiles in the boost phase of their flight, then accurately point and fire the high-energy laser, destroying enemy missiles near their launch areas.

A reflective coating would be burned up during this. So would mirrors. Besides that, the laser that is being fired has enough heat to cut through any metal known in missile development in miliseconds (from what the popular science article i read said) the targeting systems that the U.S. Military has are more than adequte to keep the laser on target for the time it needs to kill the Missile.

It's also not milliseconds - the estimates I've seen put the required illumination time at several seconds:

http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/abl.htm
After acquiring and locking onto the target, a second laser - with weapons-class strength - would fire a three- to five-second burst from a turret located in the 747's nose, destroying the missiles over the launch

There are lots of simple things you can do to potentially mitigate the effects of the laser - polishing the surface and/or changing materials, spinning the missile, etc. But likely the cheapest and most effective way is to just accelerate the arms race - put more missiles in the air. It will cost us more to field ABLs then it will cost our advasaries to field more missiles. What it is good for presently is very limited threats - countries with small numbers of missiles and a small geographic area (so the ABL can operate close to the potential launch areas). Countries like N. Korea, Gulf War I Iraq, etc.

 

[crazylegs]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Am I the only person who immediately thought of "Real Genius" when he saw the thread title?

Anyway, I wonder how they aim it?? Diffraction in the air, temperature and pressure changes affecting the index of refraction (I would think) over decent distances...

lol totally agree.... best title EVER...bar none...!!!

wonder if IGBT realises the true ironic genius of his work........

 

[The Boston Dangler]

What about the laser tests from about 20 years ago? There's stock footage of some rigged tests (I recall a rocket housing being painted with a laser just before chains pull down a steel slab, crushing the rocket). Is this the same project, or a new one?

 

[Alexstarfire]

How about everyone in the US just get a laser pointer and we all point them at the incoming missle. I'm sure 330 million laser pointers would do something.