Anti-Ballistic Missle Laser Aircraft Complete

sure, if the frequency modulation method of reducing atmospheric dispersion is all it's cracked up to be. If you can track it with a laser, might as well just launch a missile at it.

MrClean said:

I don't think that the pilots of the aircraft would have to rely on eyesight to engage the target. It probably tracks the ICBM with a radar or similar system, or multiple of these systems combined. I am not sure of the Lasers' effective range, but it has to work or it wouldn't be in production. I would agree with what IDont said on the range, those seem like somewhat accurate estimations.

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Well obviously pilots wouldn't have to be able to physically SEE the missile (that would be some freakishly good eyesight)...

Fact of the matter is that laser power tends to lose its effectiveness under different types of weather quite easily, just a moderately heavy layer of cloud cover or fog would screw things up a lot.

You guys are way too critical of this system. It is a first generation military laser weapon. Of course it will have some of flaws, but it is one of the best the US has. Remember people said the same thing about Submarines and Airplanes and how useless they are against heavily armored warships.

With the US investing in Spaceborne weaponry, this is just the first phase.

IDonT said:

You guys are way too critical of this system. It is a first generation military laser weapon. Of course it will have some of flaws, but it is one of the best the US has. Remember people said the same thing about Submarines and Airplanes and how useless they are against heavily armored warships.

With the US investing in Spaceborne weaponry, this is just the first phase.

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I certainly don't doubt that it will one day be technologically feasible to make the US absolutely impervious to ICBMs launched from other countries. One wonders however, whether it is the RIGHT thing to do. But that's a different story that probably shouldn't be addressed here, as it gets into relations between countries... (politics!)

I'm inclined to think that the US is less afraid of established nuclear powers, than upstarts and sub-national or stateless organizations. If there was a stand-off/conflict between Russia/China and the US, you'd have a gradual escalation from diplomatic to conventional, then nuclear warnings. You know who's in charge, where the capital city is, and conventional/nuclear capability clearly.

Even if there was a single accidental launch, there would be some early warning to engage missile defense systems, or possibly self-destructing the missile before it reaches the destination.

Stateless terriorist organizations/movements have no established diplomatic channels, no state capitals, and many "heads". For example, the popular "leaderless resistance" anti-government militia movement adopts a loose common goal and does not require formal leadership structure. Each cel operates independently to bring about the downfall of an existing regime. They raise funds through both legit and illegal means (i.e. chairty fronts, robery, ransom) and purchase weapons through the black market. No amount of $ spent on laser weapons can defend against a small terriorist cel from obtaining a "dirty" bomb and setting it up at a packed baseball stadium.

If you build a large direct-energy based missile defense network in the home country, it's essentially an expensive display item. The chance of someone launching ICBM's at you is tiny, and the system is completely useless against someone smuggling in a bomb to your city. Where direct-energy weapons might be useful, is forward deployement with your offensive forces.

Let all fly into NK airspace and shoot down some ICBMS.....

and hope to whichever God the pilot is with that 747 dont get shot down...

silverster said:

Let all fly into NK airspace and shoot down some ICBMS.....

and hope to whichever God the pilot is with that 747 dont get shot down...

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Did you read the effective range of the ABL?

It flies out of range of NK sams and Fighters.

More interesting is this laser gives the US a very likely soft kill ability agaisnt satalites. A 747 at 40,000 doe snot ahve a lot of atmosphere to burn through to reach orbit.
If a country tries to fry or spoof a US satalite (China) we kill one of theirs and say stop doing that. In a war situation vs a satalite equipped power we can take down thier orbital comunications,navigation and intelligence assets.

Just my .02

Now i could be wrong but .. Wouldent some type of Crystal structured spray on that would reflact light completely disable this type of weapon ?? i mean if you just bounce the laser off what good is it ?

600km.... how'll the curvature of Earth affect all this? Can you even shoot at the missile from that far away? During the boosting stage? The only thing I can think of for the craft to do is to prove Einstein wrong!