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[Tomboy]

Problem is I've heard about half the cost was on the orbital vehicle anyway. All sorts of space lasers and shenanigans can;t be cheap to begin with.

Ngl, laser costs have dropped significantly in the recent years due to much more widespread usage and advancing technology. However, I doubt the usefulness of lasers against ICBMs(Which IIRC is something they proved during the Star Wars program) and are only useful for ASAT operations. The Soviets also tried it via Polyus, which was literally a prototype of a prototype. They redesigned it to do ASAT duty because they realised destroying ICBMs with lasers is impractical if not impossible with current technology.

 

[gelgoog]

You would need high power lasers not possible with even current technology. So this is likely just Brilliant Pebbles. i.e. missiles in orbit.

 

[zyklon]

Ngl, laser costs have dropped significantly in the recent years due to much more widespread usage and advancing technology. However, I doubt the usefulness of lasers against ICBMs(Which IIRC is something they proved during the Star Wars program) and are only useful for ASAT operations. The Soviets also tried it via Polyus, which was literally a prototype of a prototype. They redesigned it to do ASAT duty because they realised destroying ICBMs with lasers is impractical if not impossible with current technology.

The most significant challenge towards developing space based direct energy weapons capable of engaging ballistic missiles is the availability of power.

Interestingly, some of the nuclear and stirling engine technologies that China is reportedly using to construct "baby SSNs" in Wuhan might actually offer a path forward here.

Though it wouldn't exactly be a "plug and play" solution or anything deployable in the short or even medium term, never mind the significant capital investments that will be necessary.

 

[qwerty3173]

You would need high power lasers not possible with even current technology. So this is likely just Brilliant Pebbles. i.e. missiles in orbit.

Missiles in orbit are much more confined with their engagement range than directed energy weapons. You can launch a lot into space but the number available at a certain place and time would be limited, so it won't be very useful against concentrated volleys.

 

[Tomboy]

Missiles in orbit are much more confined with their engagement range than directed energy weapons. You can launch a lot into space but the number available at a certain place and time would be limited, so it won't be very useful against concentrated volleys.

SDI did the calcs for you already, full coverage against global saturation attacks would require ~100,000 interceptors in orbit. Wasn't really feasible back then due to extremely expensive launch costs but now with launch costs of 1500 USD/kg it starts to look more attractive especially with current technology allowing for lighter weight interceptors. Brilliant pebble interceptors were meant to be around 45kg per fully fueled, you could launch like 1200 of them on a single FH launch.

 

[Lethe]

Continuing the saga of the Constellation-class, it's now almost 800 metric tons overweight!

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One of these days someone is going to do a deep-dive into how badly this program was bungled. I suspect the key lies in its unlikely genesis. In the wake of the comprehensive failure of LCS and the perhaps less comprehensive failure of Zumwalt, insisting on a proven design and allowing the dirty foreigners into the competition might've been the correct and even obvious move, but it was also a radical edict that inevitably alienated a lot of existing institutions and stakeholders in the Navy system. My impression is that these folks were asked to do something they never really wanted to do in the first place, and did it with all the enthusiasm of a child who has been prevailed upon to wash the dishes. The question is not so much why the program has gone adrift, but how it ever got off the ground in the first place.

 

[pipaster]

EMPLOY programme will enable temporarily unfit naval personnel to be retained indefinitely and fill non deployable positions.

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[siegecrossbow]

The most significant challenge towards developing space based direct energy weapons capable of engaging ballistic missiles is the availability of power.

Interestingly, some of the nuclear and stirling engine technologies that China is reportedly using to construct "baby SSNs" in Wuhan might actually offer a path forward here.

Though it wouldn't exactly be a "plug and play" solution or anything deployable in the short or even medium term, never mind the significant capital investments that will be necessary.

No. It is actually cooling.

 

[zyklon]

No. It is actually cooling.

Sounds like DEW programs aren't as far along as their proponents make them out to be.

Is the issue here the physical footprint of the requisite cooling systems, or something else?

 

[Tomboy]

Sounds like DEW programs aren't as far along as their proponents make them out to be.

Is the issue here the physical footprint of the requisite cooling systems, or something else?

Chemical lasers(What will likely be used, as solid lasers are basically capped at a few hundred kW right now) don't actually require energy to power the laser itself as it relies on chemical reaction to power the beam but require a very complex system of support equipment(pumps to cycle reactants which are usually gaseous or in liquid form) and cooling equipment to carry away the heat from the reaction. Which is why Polyus weighed 80 tons and was only a prototype of a prototype which was no where near full functionality.