US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
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Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#2Wow, the shark must be under a lot of pressure.
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#3With a laser operating on about 30 kilowatts of electricity - and possibly three times that in the future - the cost amounts to a few dollars per shot, Thompson said.
The important part. Power is plentiful on a ship. No need to pay for and carry ammunition. The cost for a single rocket or cannon volley is usually in the thousands of dollars.
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#4I can't decide which I'm more excited about, railguns or lasers.
Do the Navy's railgun prototypes take a special type of ammunition or are they just launching precision machined blanks of common metal?
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#5I can't decide which I'm more excited about, railguns or lasers. Do the Navy's railgun prototypes take a special type of ammunition or are they just launching precision machined blanks of common metal?
They were looking at GPS guided projectiles http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/08/guided-supersonic-bu...
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#6I can't decide which I'm more excited about, railguns or lasers. Do the Navy's railgun prototypes take a special type of ammunition or are they just launching precision machined blanks of common metal?
It's not common metal. The design of the slug is much of the work in creating a railgun because the electromagnetic push comes from generating back-currents within the slug itself. It has to be good at being pushed, then good at flying, all without melting.
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#7pew pew
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#8I can't decide which I'm more excited about, railguns or lasers. Do the Navy's railgun prototypes take a special type of ammunition or are they just launching precision machined blanks of common metal?
It's not common metal. The design of the slug is much of the work in creating a railgun because the electromagnetic push comes from generating back-currents within the slug itself. It has to be good at being pushed, then good at flying, all without melting.
Another very serious design problem with high power railguns is making a gun where firing it doesn't destroy the rails after five shots.
Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#9With a laser operating on about 30 kilowatts of electricity - and possibly three times that in the future - the cost amounts to a few dollars per shot, Thompson said. The important part. Power is plentiful on a ship. No need to pay for and carry ammunition. The cost for a single rocket or cannon volley is usually in the thousands of dollars.
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Re: US Navy ready to deploy laser for first time
#10I know this is completely off topic, reddit-ish, and I will get downvoted into the oblivion, but...
Frau: Fire the laSER!