Milestones for US Airborne Laser mapped out (with pics)

WEN? said:

wow, they acutally made a laser to destroy missles. man that project costs so much. $471.6 million for it. i dun think they will be making to many of them for a while. does anyone know what they are going to use to power the laser??

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Thats cheap for such a project.

Actually, the laser serves basically as a very large heat ray. That's how most THEL works as well. It heats up the warhead and it esplodes. The fact that it's so freaking huge is because it's a chemical laser, which are very inefficient lasers. They're far more susceptible to atmospheric conditions and require more recharges. THey have about 20 shots before have to refill as I recall, perhaps it was only an estimate. It's more of a token measure than anything else. It would prevent an attack from a minor power, but not even a power like Pakistan or India would be truly threatened by it.

The real question is if this will affect the development of the SBL. SBL would likely involve a 20-satellite defense system that would have 100 shots and be able to switch targets in half a second. In other words, it would be able to shoot down around 2,000 missiles. That would be a far moire effective defense system, especially given that it would hit the weapons right after they launch.

Vlad Plasmius said:

That would be a far moire effective defense system, especially given that it would hit the weapons right after they launch.

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This system will be a part of an overall system that will rperesent a defense in depth. That overall defensive system will ultimately involve space based, air based, sea based and ground based components.

In addition, the Chemical laser, for this particular airborne application, is a very decent solution. The ABL is not meant to be a complete defense against an attack from a major power...it is meant to enable the US to down onesy twosey missiles from rogue states or terrorists.

The ABL is not meant to be a complete defense against an attack from a major power...it is meant to enable the US to down onesy twosey missiles from rogue states or terrorists.

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There is still an issue of range. COIL is often weakened by the atmosphere so it will lessen the range.