Lasers on a plane...apparently now more real than ever at just a scant six years away? 100kW for fighter jets and apparently quite lethal too. guess we'll see.
fascinating technology tho...link included if you're interested and excert below.
Laser Fighters: 100 kW Weapons By 2022
fascinating technology tho...link included if you're interested and excert below.
Laser Fighters: 100 kW Weapons By 2022
"What can 100-plus kilowatts kill? Hardy was cagey about specific targets, but a study from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments suggests that it could destroy enemy cruise missiles, drones, and even manned aircraft at significant ranges.
“A 150-200 kW laser could be capable against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles,” said CSBA’s Mark Gunzinger, the report’s author. And against manned aircraft? “Quite probably,” he said, “especially at altitude where the air is thinner.”
Maj. Gen. Masiello explicitly brought up lasers as potential replacements for air-to-air missiles. “The ultimate almost unlimited magazine is provided with directed energy[:]One laser shot we estimate would take about a liter of fuel,” he said, “but that’s a ways off.”
“Missile defense is our biggest interest,” Hardy told me, just as it is for the Navy and Armylaser programs. “But we’re also interested in the offensive capability they provide, because…as long as you have jet fuel that can be converted into electricity to feed the laser, I can keep firing the weapon.”
A typical modern fighter like the F-16 can carry at most six air-to-air missiles. Shoot six times, hit or miss, and it’s back to base to re-arm. By contrast, said Gunzinger, a laser-armed aircraft could just head back to the tanker. “Instead of landing to reload, air refueling would ‘reload’ [laser]-equipped aircraft in flight,” he said. They could keep fighting until the pilot couldn’t take it any more — or, if unmanned, for longer than any human could endure."
“A 150-200 kW laser could be capable against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles,” said CSBA’s Mark Gunzinger, the report’s author. And against manned aircraft? “Quite probably,” he said, “especially at altitude where the air is thinner.”
Maj. Gen. Masiello explicitly brought up lasers as potential replacements for air-to-air missiles. “The ultimate almost unlimited magazine is provided with directed energy[:]One laser shot we estimate would take about a liter of fuel,” he said, “but that’s a ways off.”
“Missile defense is our biggest interest,” Hardy told me, just as it is for the Navy and Armylaser programs. “But we’re also interested in the offensive capability they provide, because…as long as you have jet fuel that can be converted into electricity to feed the laser, I can keep firing the weapon.”
A typical modern fighter like the F-16 can carry at most six air-to-air missiles. Shoot six times, hit or miss, and it’s back to base to re-arm. By contrast, said Gunzinger, a laser-armed aircraft could just head back to the tanker. “Instead of landing to reload, air refueling would ‘reload’ [laser]-equipped aircraft in flight,” he said. They could keep fighting until the pilot couldn’t take it any more — or, if unmanned, for longer than any human could endure."
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