Army laser shoots down artillery shell

[Grasshopper27]

The U.S. Army used a high-energy laser to shoot down an artillery shell in flight Tuesday in a defense industry breakthrough, the Army and the manufacturer said.

MSNBC

Wow! Amazing these lasers are.

Seriouslly, the switch from missiles for defense to directed energy weapons will be a good thing. Instead of launching Patriot missiles at a million bucks a pop, we can shoot down Scuds using a laser that costs about $5,000 to fire instead.

Saves the taxpayers money!

Grasshopper

 

[jlee]

Cool. I'd like to play with one..doubt they'd let me, though

 

[loup garou]

"cool"

 

[Viper GTS]

An artillery shell is much smaller than a missile, but also much, much slower, right?

Viper GTS

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: grasshopper26

The U.S. Army used a high-energy laser to shoot down an artillery shell in flight Tuesday in a defense industry breakthrough, the Army and the manufacturer said.

MSNBC

Wow! Amazing these lasers are.

Seriouslly, the switch from missiles for defense to directed energy weapons will be a good thing. Instead of launching Patriot missiles at a million bucks a pop, we can shoot down Scuds using a laser that costs about $5,000 to fire instead.

Saves the taxpayers money!

BTW, did anyone notice this little point: "The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser is being developed by TRW for the Army and the Israeli Defense Ministry."

Funny how Israel always gets access to our latest weapons. Sort of how they are getting the F-22 Raptor at the same time our own Air Force is getting it. Not even the British are getting these toys...

Grasshopper

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
An artillery shell is much smaller than a missile, but also much, much slower, right?

Viper GTS

Depends on the missile in question... an ICBM is going much, much faster than a artillery shell. OTOH, a Hellfire missile is subsonic...

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
An artillery shell is much smaller than a missile, but also much, much slower, right?

Viper GTS

Much smaller, about the same speed as a Scud. Most Arty shells travel at about 3 times the speed of sound, the same speed the Scud is moving when it comes down.

This weapon could easily shoot down Scud Missiles. Of course the Airborne Laser project is being built to shoot down Scuds while in the boost phase, which is even easier still. The problem with Arty is that there is no real boost phase.

Grasshopper

 

[freakflag]

F-ing cool.
Think you could light a bong with it?

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: grasshopper26

Originally posted by: grasshopper26

The U.S. Army used a high-energy laser to shoot down an artillery shell in flight Tuesday in a defense industry breakthrough, the Army and the manufacturer said.

MSNBC

Wow! Amazing these lasers are.

Seriouslly, the switch from missiles for defense to directed energy weapons will be a good thing. Instead of launching Patriot missiles at a million bucks a pop, we can shoot down Scuds using a laser that costs about $5,000 to fire instead.

Saves the taxpayers money!

BTW, did anyone notice this little point: "The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser is being developed by TRW for the Army and the Israeli Defense Ministry."

Funny how Israel always gets access to our latest weapons. Sort of how they are getting the F-22 Raptor at the same time our own Air Force is getting it. Not even the British are getting these toys...

Grasshopper

In purely pragmatic terms, for many of our weapons, thats the fastest way to test them under actual combat conditions.

 

[ElFenix]

its almost like that movie with val kilmer...

 

[wfbberzerker]

i dont think it would be a huge problem how fast the missile is going... as long as the laser can track it.

EDIT: aha!

We?ve shown that even an artillery projectile hurtling through the air at supersonic speed is no match for a laser,? said Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Cosumano, head of the missile defense command

 

[OFFascist]

This is definately cool.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The laser was fired from a static test bed in a carefully controlled test, but TRW officials said they looked forward to producing a truly mobile version as the program progressed.

In other words the laser was pointed in the right direction and pre-aimed (maybe even pre-programmed) for the pre-determined trajectory of the shell.

Not anywhere near a practical defense system yet, but still a good first step.

 

[Maverick]

next we'll build a base on the moon with these lasers and call it the "death star"

 

[wfbberzerker]

Originally posted by: Shiva112
next we'll build a base on the moon with these lasers and call it the "death star"

before or after we master the "force"?

 

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
An artillery shell is much smaller than a missile, but also much, much slower, right?

Viper GTS

Depends on the charge used. Also depends on the size of the projectile. 105mm is the smallest in the US arsenal right now. The largest is 155mm. I don't think there are any 8 inchers left, which is a 205mm. These sizes refer to the bore of the artillery piece. The length differs depending on the projectile such as high explosive (HE), White Phosphorous (WP), and Illumination round. Even different fuses which attach to the head of the projectile are different sizes.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: freakflag
F-ing cool.
Think you could light a bong with it?

lol

 

[DanTMWTMP]

at first i read "missile.." u knw, cuz i saw that in the discovery channel a long time ago...then i read it again...ARTILLERY SHELL!?!?!?!??!...here's where i saw it:
yahoo!'s site

 

[ROTC1983]

Originally posted by: wfbberzerker

Originally posted by: Shiva112
next we'll build a base on the moon with these lasers and call it the "death star"

before or after we master the "force"?

First we must master the force....

 

[Rakkis]

nothing to see here : )

 

[kherman]

From article:
"?This shootdown shifts the paradigm for defensive capabilities. We?ve shown that even an artillery projectile hurtling through the air at supersonic speed is no match for a laser,? said Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Cosumano, head of the missile defense command."

 

[AndrewR]

What was interesting is that BBC News had this on their site before either CNN or MSNBC picked it up.

Awesome stuff! Not sure if that article mentions it, but the system was first tested against a Katyusha rocket (think that's how it's spelled) -- multiple launch rockets owing their history to ones developed during WWII.

One of the best things about this weapon is that if you miss, you may be able to take another shot because light travels faster than a missile.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: freakflag
F-ing cool.
Think you could light a bong with it?

I tell you what, you go stand in the desert holding a bong, and then the crew can aim the laser at the bong to see if it lights up.

 

[SaltBoy]

I'd like one of those for my birthday, please...

We've shown that even an artillery projectile hurtling through the air at supersonic speed is no match for a laser.

w00t! A frickin' laser beam!

 

[MaxDepth]

Nice Highbeams!!!


the article from CNN