Tactical High Energy Laser shoots down mortars

[vampireuk]

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22997

In tests representative of actual mortar threat scenarios, the THEL testbed destroyed both single mortar rounds and mortar rounds fired in a salvo at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

Hamas are going to be pissed when their crappy rockets get shot out of the sky before they can even hit their targets :happy:

 

[DuDe]

That's a very cool piece of technology. It will be even cooler when this device will become handheld.

 

[vampireuk]

I'd imagine it will be decades before it will be handheld, in a few years they will probably have it attached to a armoured vehicle chassis for mobile defence.

 

[Jakob]

I imagine that in a few years it will replace the crappy anti-missile missles that manage to shoot down absolutely nothing when anything remotely like a realistic situation is thrown at them.

Then Bush will nuke russia, then get a nuclear tipped SS19 sunburn missle up his ass(they fly near ground level, under radar and ostensibly out of the range of anti-missle systems) or maybe I'm thinking of something else I don't have the greatest memory for weaponry.

 

[vampireuk]

The Patriot missles do have a fairly good record for taking down incoming missiles. This laser manages to take out mortar rounds, given enough development I imagine this thing could eventually take down ballistic missiles.

 

[-Shadow-]

I'd imagine it will be decades before it will be handheld, in a few years they will probably have it attached to a armoured vehicle chassis for mobile defence.

I think it will also take some decades to make a mobile version of it ! The biggest problem is the energy supply , IMO . And a handheld version is really an Utopy if you ask me...

BTW : Vamp , U g0t ur 1337th p0st ! R0xX0r OMG

 

[Eagle]

The problem is, you can't take down a nuclear missile. Even if you blow it up, the radiation spreads throughout the atmosphere. You would have to somehow force it to disarm itself and crash into the ocean without exploding.

 

[Jakob]

Eagle: depends on the range of the anti-missile system, if the nuke is taken out before re-entry then there isn't a problem with ground level radiation

 

[Jakob]

The Patriot missles do have a fairly good record for taking down incoming missiles. This laser manages to take out mortar rounds, given enough development I imagine this thing could eventually take down ballistic missiles.

actually, the patriot missiles have a farely fake record for taking down incoming missiles, all those supposed take downs of scuds in the first golf war were imaginary(the system thought it took something down when in reality, it didn't)

 

[vampireuk]

The problem is, you can't take down a nuclear missile. Even if you blow it up, the radiation spreads throughout the atmosphere. You would have to somehow force it to disarm itself and crash into the ocean without exploding.

Perhaps but judging from this technology soon they may be able to develop a version that takes out electronics, that would most likely shut the missile down and cause it to come falling into the ocean.

 

[Eagle]

Perhaps but judging from this technology soon they may be able to develop a version that takes out electronics, that would most likely shut the missile down and cause it to come falling into the ocean.

Now that would be sweet.

 

[vampireuk]

Or on France, you know whichever is closer