This new vehicle laser blows up everything

[beer]

German company demonstrates how system can obliterate drones, mortar rounds, IEDs

Rheinmetall's 10-kilowatt laser mounted on an air defense vehicle's turret.

Laser weapons have steadily edged toward reality as the U.S. military has tested battlefield uses such as shooting down drones and sinking small boats. Now a German defense manufacturer has joined the fray by showing how its vehicle-mounted laser is able to blast everything from an unmanned flying target to roadside bombs.

One 10-kilowatt laser mounted on an air defense vehicle's turret not only obliterated a small flying drone within a matter of seconds, but also demonstrated its ability to shoot incoming mortar rounds out of the sky as a way of protecting ground troops from enemy fire. A smaller 1-kilowatt laser targeted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and sank a rubber raft.

The laser destroys a target drone during tests.

Such live fire tests held by the defense company Rheinmetall in Ochsenboden, Switzerland, aimed to impress international guests with the German system's marriage of lasers with air defense systems capable of tracking and taking out battlefield targets.

The German defense manufacturer expects to upgrade to a 100-kilowatt high-energy laser weapon within the next three to five years — 100 kilowatts being considered weapons-grade for destroying a much broader range of battlefield targets.

Past tests by the U.S. military and defense contractors have already shown how lasers can eliminate such a variety of targets individually, but Rheinmetall's demonstration emphasizes the versatility of battlefield lasers by taking on the different targets with the same laser systems.

Some of the first battlefield lasers may appear as hybrid systems that marry laser power with old-fashioned projectile weapons, such as the U.S. Navy's interest in a defensive ship weapon that combines a laser with a machine gun. The U.S. Army's version of a vehicle-mounted laser remains in development by Boeing.

(

source)

pew pew pew....

[Atasas]

sound like very e$$$$pen$$$$ive fun toy :think:

[myidisbb]

worthless unless you know where the ied is at. they will just start remot denoting the vehicle with the laser. duhhhhhh.

[beer]

@Atasas

True.

@mydisbb

Partlially true. But my guess is if they suspect an area is setup with IEDs, they can use the lasers to scan it instead of using bots or people.

[beer]

I remember reading about mobile vehicle lasers being deployed during the Iraq war, and looks like it was the 10kw model.

Found this interesting article:

LASER HUMMER IN IRAQ

The Armys first and only battlefield laser system is back.

In 2003, the Army sent ZEUS, a Humvee armed with a 10kw solid-state laser, to Afghanistan, to blast mines and other explosives left over from years of war. In the six months ZEUS spent there, the laser-hummer zapped over 200 pieces of unexploded ordnance, according to the Army, “at one point setting a record for ordnance disposal by negating 51 pieces in less than 100 minutes.“

Now, ZEUS “is being forward deployed” again, Army Space and Missile Defense Command Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen tells Defense Daily.

“According to spokesman at Headquarters, Department of the Army, ZEUS is in Iraq as part of a three-vehicle convoy protection concept being evaluated now,” DD adds.

ZEUS uses a pair of lasers to sizzle its targets, according to Sparta, Inc., the vehicle’s maker. A joystick-controlled green Nd:YAG laser is used to designate the target. One it’s locked, an invisible high-power Nd:YAG laser swerves around, to heat the sucker up.

The system uses diesel fuel to create the laser beam, which focuses energy on the outer casing of the target, which heats up until it detonates, [triggering] a less violent explosion than if the explosive was activated, causing less damage to the surrounding area…

Its power level and utility is new and is not for aerial targets, its for unexploded ordnance, Dodgen said. It is a system that works, and we certainly would like to use it whenever possible.

(

source)

If a 10kw laser is called Zeus, what would they call a 100kw laser?

:think:

[Nemesis]

what no sharks with frikin' lazer beams on their head?

[myidisbb]

@Atasas

True.

@mydisbb

Partlially true. But my guess is if they suspect an area is setup with IEDs, they can use the lasers to scan it instead of using bots or people.

cheaper to sendin a robot instead. this laser toy is worthless for ieds in the military

[beer]

cheaper to sendin a robot instead. this laser toy is worthless for ieds in the military

That is solely your opinion. I am more than happy to acknowledge your claims if you can back it up with facts or expert evidence. If you can't then I don't see how this is different from trolling.

Below, I have some facts on current IED challenges and the potential of these lasers to save solider lives explained by the laser research team at Michigan State University:

Full Press Release:

Lasers could be used to detect roadside bombs

Published: Sept. 16, 2011

EAST LANSING, Mich. - A research team at Michigan State University has developed a laser that could detect roadside bombs – the deadliest enemy weapon encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The laser, which has comparable output to a simple presentation pointer, potentially has the sensitivity and selectivity to canvas large areas and detect improvised explosive devices – weapons that account for around 60 percent of coalition soldiers' deaths. Marcos Dantus, chemistry professor and founder of BioPhotonic Solutions, led the team and has published the results in the current issue of Applied Physics Letters.

The detection of IEDs in the field is extremely important and challenging because the environment introduces a large number of chemical compounds that mask the select few molecules that one is trying to detect, Dantus said.

"Having molecular structure sensitivity is critical for identifying explosives and avoiding unnecessary evacuation of buildings and closing roads due to false alarms," he said

Since IEDs can be found in populated areas, the methods to detect these weapons must be nondestructive. They also must be able to distinguish explosives from vast arrays of similar compounds that can be found in urban environments. Dantus' latest laser can make these distinctions even for quantities as small as a fraction of a billionth of a gram.

The laser beam combines short pulses that kick the molecules and make them vibrate, as well as long pulses that are used to "listen" and identify the different "chords." The chords include different vibrational frequencies that uniquely identify every molecule, much like a fingerprint. The high-sensitivity laser can work in tandem with cameras and allows users to scan questionable areas from a safe distance.

"The laser and the method we've developed were originally intended for microscopes, but we were able to adapt and broaden its use to demonstrate its effectiveness for standoff detection of explosives," said Dantus, who hopes to net additional funding to take this laser from the lab and into the field.

This research is funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security. BioPhotonic Solutions is a high-tech company Dantus launched in 2003 to commercialize technology invented in a spinoff from his research group at MSU.

(

source)

Quoting the PR release above: "... improvise explosive devices - weapons that account for around 60 percent of coalition soldiers' deaths." is a clear indication that current methods are still quite ineffective and needs to be improved to reduce the high fatality rates. I am sure you wouldn't be calling this tech worthless if it was you, your family, or your friend that is in those war zones with IEDs.

This new tech is still in the R&D Stage and if there is plausible evidence that it can help save human lives why dismiss it?