Bittersweet Success for Airborne Laser Weapon

Perhaps the Israeli would like to take a crack at it. It seems that their enemies can't resist lobbing missiles at them on a regular basis, in spite of the heavy civilian casualties from the retaliation that inevitably follows, provoking more anger and hate, etc, etc.

If the laser system was applicable to deal with that chronic missile problem, it could take the edge off that vicious circle. Would it be feasible for that specific situation? If so, it could be considered a peacekeeping effort.

Interesting technology. I read an article about this at www.IEEE.org/spectrum in the July 2009 issue under "Ray Guns Get Real". In this they describe why ray guns like the ALB has not very practical. This technology is still a bit out of reach.

If you have a link for that, I"d like to read it. Or if it's members only, a synopsis of the technical issues would be appreciated by the curious.

I don't know much about it, so really don't have a perspective on how costly, difficult, or realistic the prospect is of making it a useable technology. But it is certainly interesting.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/optoelectronics/ray-guns-get-real

Thank you, a very interesting read. I see the Israeli application has already been tried and the THEL didn't pass muster. Too bad.

I guess this application will have to wait for new laser technology with a better conversion ratio.

This isn't the first time that a technology was rejected because it was too huge and cumbersome. The same constraint applied to the "sonic weapons" that were researched years ago. Although, I was surprised to see a revival of this idea in the previous thread about nonlethal weapons. I guess there is a "fixed position - remote activation" approach that is marginally applicable for routine defense if not for combat. Perhaps the same will apply to laser defense when the next generation of efficiency is achieved.

The technology to automatically reform mirror surfaces to correct for atmospheric disturbances real time is remarkable. The tracking ability to track and maintain a laser beam on a target hundred of kilometers aways is yet remarkable again. This technologly will be transfered to other areas and will inevitably help our defense teams. The system should be maintained as a test bed for future up grades and technology advances.