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#3548798 - 04/01/12 04:05 PM
US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
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Master of the Weird
Veteran
Registered: 01/06/01
Posts: 10387
Loc: Portugal
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http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/navy-lasers-four-years/
The dream of sailors, nerds and sailor-nerds everywhere is on the verge of coming true, senior Navy technologists swear. Within four years, they claim they’ll have a working prototype of a laser cannon, ready to place aboard a ship. And they’re just months away from inviting defense contractors to bid on a contract to build it for them.
From a technological perspective, the Navy thinks maritime laser weapons finally represent a proven, mature technology. The key point came last April, when the Navy put a test laser firing a (relatively weak) 15-kilowatt beam aboard a decommissioned destroyer. Never before had a laser cannon at sea disabled an enemy vessel. But the Martime Laser Demonstrator cut through choppy California waters, an overcast sky and salty sea air to burn through the outboard engine of a moving motorboat a mile away. You can see video of the successful demonstration above.
Next: Laser Sharks!
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#3549163 - 04/02/12 10:32 AM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
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Skate Zilla HD Studios
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Registered: 11/24/04
Posts: 12328
Loc: Virginia Beach, VA
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you mean we actually have fricken DDGs with fricken lasers attached to the heads? Cooool.
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#3549185 - 04/02/12 11:08 AM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
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meh
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Registered: 07/12/04
Posts: 7371
Loc: NW Alabama, USA
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Seems pointless for a ship since it would have a maximum range of 5 miles plus change. You only real targets are going to be very small craft at close range. That would be fixed by conventional weapons easier and cheaper.
I do not really see the point in it.
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#3549224 - 04/02/12 12:27 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Master]
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Skate Zilla HD Studios
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Registered: 11/24/04
Posts: 12328
Loc: Virginia Beach, VA
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Seems pointless for a ship since it would have a maximum range of 5 miles plus change. You only real targets are going to be very small craft at close range. That would be fixed by conventional weapons easier and cheaper.
I do not really see the point in it. i dont see Snipers hitting an outboard motor 5 miles away....
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#3549230 - 04/02/12 12:32 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
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Senior Member
Registered: 05/08/02
Posts: 4648
Loc: USA
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The threat 
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#3549234 - 04/02/12 12:39 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
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Senior Member
Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 3233
Loc: England, UK
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Well the U.S. Navy are already building railguns so lasers are in the same technology leap. No surprise here AT ALL.
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#3549240 - 04/02/12 12:44 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
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I Fought Diablo
Veteran
Registered: 10/22/99
Posts: 10805
Loc: The Lone Star State
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxZ9IHTH2EThey've been working on this for years. And those lasers can take out missiles, artillery rounds May 2010 - Use of the Solid State Laser During the test, the Navy's Laser Weapon System (LaWS), guided by Raytheon's Phalanx Close-In Weapon System sensors, engaged and destroyed four UAV targets flying over water near the Navy's weapons and training facility on San Nicolas Island in California's Santa Barbara Channel, about 120 kilometers west of Los Angeles. The Phalanx—a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun system—used electro-optical tracking and radio frequency sensors to provide range data to the LaWS, which is made up of six solid-state lasers with an output of 32 kilowatts that simultaneously focus on a target.
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#3549251 - 04/02/12 12:59 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Master]
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Member
Registered: 10/11/11
Posts: 347
Loc: Temporarily relocated to Brita...
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Seems pointless for a ship since it would have a maximum range of 5 miles plus change. You only real targets are going to be very small craft at close range. That would be fixed by conventional weapons easier and cheaper.
I do not really see the point in it. Railguns are expected to take on long-range targets. These are essentially taking the place of any on-board MGs/cannon ships still carry. Oh, minus the massive storage of explosive material that MGs and cannons bring with them (aka ammo)...
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#3549264 - 04/02/12 01:18 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
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Master of the Weird
Veteran
Registered: 01/06/01
Posts: 10387
Loc: Portugal
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Exactly. They are meant to replace the point defense systems.
Their accuracy and range makes them perfect to take out incoming shells, missiles, or planes that get too close.
They may also be used to destroy small fast moving boats such as the ones used by pirates in Somalia.
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#3549341 - 04/02/12 03:42 PM
Re: US Navy to build a Laser cannon for it's ships.
[Re: SkateZilla]
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Member
Registered: 06/26/09
Posts: 1093
Loc: Where the ocean meets the sky
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Seems pointless for a ship since it would have a maximum range of 5 miles plus change. You only real targets are going to be very small craft at close range. That would be fixed by conventional weapons easier and cheaper.
I do not really see the point in it. .... And with a Laser 5 miles away you do not need to check whether the people on this boat are fishermen or hostile, just push the button 
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