New US Army Laser coming along nicely
- Thread starter sideranautae
- Start date
Yeah, I saw that. Next task is to get the energy output up. The article I read didn't say what kind of capabilities it had (like how many rounds/minute it can engage and destroy). I wonder what kind of effect adding ablative material to shells would have? Or if they were RAP (rocket assisted projectile) and used an intermittent burst motor to randomize the acceleration to make it harder to hit.
On the back of a HEMTT (sniff). I miss my HEMTT. They were fun to drive!
Oh, and the spare tire weighs 540lbs (trivia question used by our platoon sergeants!) Redlegs!
On the back of a HEMTT (sniff). I miss my HEMTT. They were fun to drive!
Oh, and the spare tire weighs 540lbs (trivia question used by our platoon sergeants!) Redlegs!
sideranautae
Mongoose
phavoc said:
Ablative is problematic due to weight & aeronautic considerations. The laser is too accurate (also speed of light) to outmaneuver. Also FEL's will be being used in these weapons shortly so ablative and "reflect" won't really work anyway.
You know that tire caught my attention immediately. I was wondering how the F that is taken down and used in the field. :shock:
sideranautae said:
The laser is going to have to rely upon data being fed back to it by counter-battery radar (the an/tpq-36 firefinder set will pick it up the moment it clears the horizon and within a second or two give you the launching coordinates). The laser still has to move and track the object. A mortar shell is relatively small, so is a 155 round. And to destroy the round it has to hit it square on (not sure what a graze would do). Anything you can do to cause the weapon system to spend more time tracking a single target means you have more opportunity to get one through.
As far as ablative goes, it's quite easy to add it to a round. If you wanna get cute you add it as an inner layer over the protective outer shell. Much depends on if you need to make it a spray or something much thicker - I don't know enough about anti-laser ablative materials to tell you what kind of thickness works best. But I can tell you from a physical aspect adding it to a shell or rocket is easy without affecting any aspect of it's trajectory. The real kicker is how much of the stuff would you need?
As far as the spare tire goes, I suspect there is a winch up there, either out of the picture or would be assembled. Our HEMTT's (and most of the early ones) mounted the spare tire on the drivers side. It had a winch that was stowed and you just had to swing it out, attach the cable, and start cranking. Gravity took care of the rest. Occasionly we just kicked it down, but if you weren't working on those front two tires lifting that sucker up was hard! Oh, and like most tires they still can bounce...
sideranautae
Mongoose
phavoc said:
It uses its own radar. Not counter battery. The laser transmits (even at this low test level) so much energy that the weapons detonate. At operational levels, ablat will not help. The rounds will just explode with a fraction of a sec of exposure. Aircraft are different simply because of the larger mass. Missiles & rounds have no chance. Hitting them with the laser is REALLY easy.
phavoc said:As far as the spare tire goes, I suspect there is a winch up there, either out of the picture or would be assembled. Our HEMTT's (and most of the early ones) mounted the spare tire on the drivers side. It had a winch that was stowed and you just had to swing it out, attach the cable, and start cranking. Gravity took care of the rest. Occasionly we just kicked it down, but if you weren't working on those front two tires lifting that sucker up was hard! Oh, and like most tires they still can bounce...
Hard work no matter how you cut it. Thank for the info. Those suckers are huge.
I was viewing video of the laser being tested, one a demo against an Al-Qassam type rocket, and then the vehicle itself engaging mortar rounds. The rocket engagement seemed kinda fixed to me, as those rockets aren't anywhere near as fast as say an MLRS round (or the Russian equivalent). Plus the range was only 1.5km and the rocket was going the same speed in a straight line. But still it was a confirmed kill.
The second test against mortar rounds makes me wonder more about the system. If I was reading the video correctly, it was taking seconds to destroy a mortar round. And those too were traveling at a regular velocity. It's still pretty good engineering to do that, but nobody has yet tried to build rounds to defend against point defense lasers.
Will be interesting to see how the tech unfolds.
The second test against mortar rounds makes me wonder more about the system. If I was reading the video correctly, it was taking seconds to destroy a mortar round. And those too were traveling at a regular velocity. It's still pretty good engineering to do that, but nobody has yet tried to build rounds to defend against point defense lasers.
Will be interesting to see how the tech unfolds.
All the enemy needs to do is "Saturate" the defense with excessive targets.
I still recall handling the 5" and 8" iron rounds that were fired over a barge that a CIWS was mounted. CIWS DU Sabots crewed the front and rear of those projos.
Question does this weapon system posses the energy required in the micro/pico second of contact to cause the round to detonate?
I am guessing they are using some kind of Dye Laser for energy. Most modern surgical lasers are Dye Lasers, FYI DYE packs are extremely toxic.
As for the Spin put out by the US Military's remember the Sergeant York aka the Gun That Could Not Shoot Straight.
I still recall handling the 5" and 8" iron rounds that were fired over a barge that a CIWS was mounted. CIWS DU Sabots crewed the front and rear of those projos.
Question does this weapon system posses the energy required in the micro/pico second of contact to cause the round to detonate?
I am guessing they are using some kind of Dye Laser for energy. Most modern surgical lasers are Dye Lasers, FYI DYE packs are extremely toxic.
As for the Spin put out by the US Military's remember the Sergeant York aka the Gun That Could Not Shoot Straight.
sideranautae
Mongoose
BlindBleu said:
Which costs almost as much as real munitions.
p.s. - the US figured out how to deal with THAT scenario with the USSR...
sideranautae
Mongoose
BlindBleu said:
No, it' correct. You just aren't familiar enough with lasers.
BlindBleu said:
You are incorrect on both counts.
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