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Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

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Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#61
post #32

The youtube channel smarter every day is doing a series about live aboard a nuclear attack sub (different class than the one in the article, Los Angeles class IIRC) during an exercise where they navigate under ice, called ICEX. which might be of interest if you like this article. It's obviously propaganda but it is very interesting nonetheless. actual submarine part: https://youtu.be/RXXMJAU6vY8 the leadup and contex…

>It's obviously propaganda but it is very interesting nonetheless. Sorry, how is this video obviously propaganda?

Potentially sponsored/edited by military personnel or at least done with their OK.

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#63
post #25

What would a retroreflector on the target do to the dazzler's operator?

I assume that the scope has a 532 nm bandstop filter to prevent that issue.

Also, the eyesafe feature probably triggers on retroreflection from a target's eyes, so a retroreflector would likely trigger the laser to reduce it's beam power.

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#64
post #42

FWIW: these have been reported to be in active use against the Portland protesters. It's so frustrating that HN chooses the gadget puff piece to push to the top of the front page instead of the actual deployed weapons. Most especially because the much-lower-power pocket laser pointers have been cited by the white house directly as having "permanently blinded" federal agents. (Consumer red/green lasers are extraordina…

Used against Portland protestors? From the videos I've seen, it's the "protestors" using them against the police. https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1286914458032332800

From friends on the ground in Portland I will say it's largely still aggravated by police presence and the DHS/federal agents. If authorities did not step in with tear gas and kidnapping protests would have continue to be mostly nonviolent. Turns out that when you meet protests against police brutality with police brutality and disappearing citizens, nothing improves.

There are small groups and agitators causing issues not out of self defense but they are few and far between if not turned over by protesters when identified. Portland isn't on fire, civil rights are.

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#65

Two side observations unrelated to the laser rifle: 1) It's surprising or kind of amusing that such a huge and complex submarine uses plain old Raytheon / Raymarine radar when operating in harbor, etc. as if were just a little sailboat. But whatever works and is effective! I wonder how it has to be dismantled and put up, taken down each time? Perhaps it's mostly for being visible to other ships/monitoring stations? I…

Using a cheapo radar gives a military target better "obvious" cover from electronical intelligence. As radars use active emmissions, they can be characterized and profiled. At range a civilian grade radar will not be fired upon in war without confirmation and in peace they can be used to hide your actual wartime radar capabilities and characteristics

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#66
post #3

So the clarification (easily determined from the subtitle, as well as the article body), is that this is a dazzler meant to temporarily blind or distract. It's not a sci fi laser rifle that cuts things. This is very different from star wars (the missile defense program), or star wars (the movie). The US Navy does have things closer to that: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a326766... But they're h…

I read the article but still don't understand the use case. When would you use one of these?

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#67
post #51
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's obviously propaganda but it is very interesting nonetheless. Sorry, how is this video obviously propaganda?

Destin, the person behind Smarter Every Day was ex-military and he interviewed his old commanding officer. It was clearly mentioned that the military is doing this to reach out to potential recruits while sharing interesting knowledge. I believe the actual episode is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOTYgcdNrXE

It is important to note that things can be more than one thing at once. The general in the video says that Destin created a weapon (of information), which would be propaganda. But the video is also highly informative and educational. Destin is in it for the education and cool factor. The military is in it for the education, cool factor (potential recruits), and show of power (to potential recruits, civilians, and foreign civilians). From my understanding, Destin has pretty free reign in what he can show (military does have to approve but he is free to speak his mind).

The fact that this is also propaganda just means that the military has a motive to show this other than for purely educational purposes. That's all propaganda means here.

(Note: I'm not arguing with the parent, I'm expanding on because of sibling comments that do not seem to understand the nuance)

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#68
post #32

The youtube channel smarter every day is doing a series about live aboard a nuclear attack sub (different class than the one in the article, Los Angeles class IIRC) during an exercise where they navigate under ice, called ICEX. which might be of interest if you like this article. It's obviously propaganda but it is very interesting nonetheless. actual submarine part: https://youtu.be/RXXMJAU6vY8 the leadup and contex…

>It's obviously propaganda but it is very interesting nonetheless. Sorry, how is this video obviously propaganda?

Ok so destin works as a scientist for the us gov. He did a video a while ago where he interviewed a general about the cyber domain of warfare. In this interview they discussed that the interview itself was part of that cyber domain, and the access they provide to destin is a part of the US presence in the cyber domain. [0]

The pentagon clearly sees smarter everyday as a channel to spread information to a certain audience, to show off US capability and serve as a recruitment material.

I respect Destin a lot and I think the video is very cool, but I feel that I should add a sort of disclaimer because I'm actively aiding the US gov by spreading this video? they obviously don't care about you knowing it's propaganda, but it cant hurt to emphasize it. Tbh my thinking about this isn't that crystallized yet but I thought it might spark an interesting side discussion.

0: https://youtu.be/qOTYgcdNrXE see 21:00+ for cyberdomain talk

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#69
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Season 2, Episode 4 "The Outrageous Okona" ~19:20 https://www.netflix.com/watch/70177892?t=1160

I didn't knew it's possible to link to timestamps on Netflix. Is there a way to get the link from the UI, or do you have to compute the seconds yourself?

[deleted]

Re: Sailor pictured with laser rifle on board USS Minnesota nuclear sub

#70
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on my reading of the article this laser weapon doesn't (maybe even is not capable of without modification?) cause permanent blindness.

That would imply the use of class 1 lasers, but those lasers wouldn't have the required range. The laser in that picture is definitely capable of much, much higher power output then a few milliwatts of low frequencies light. It's much more likely that the US simply refused to sign that treaty just like they refused to sign treaties about other horrors like land mines or chemical weapons.

It seems like you're just choosing to ignore the parts of the article that specifically address the protective measures built in to the device in order to make sensationalist claims about US policy.
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