Our fine US Navy has one upped all with a new demonstration of why THE NAVY leads in the area of use of technology...Knocked a Drone right outta the sky like shooting clay pigeons...with a frickin' laser no less.....seems they took a idea from Austin Powers' Dr. Evil:
" Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here...."
Here's the bone...The Navy has frickin' lasers.....and they aren't attached to sharks. To quote Austin Powers: Yeah, baby, yeah!
" Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here...."
Here's the bone...The Navy has frickin' lasers.....and they aren't attached to sharks. To quote Austin Powers: Yeah, baby, yeah!
Star Wars laser zaps Drone from the sky
UK SUN
A STAR Wars-style laser has been used for the first time to blast an aircraft out of the sky.
The invisible beam zapped one unmanned drone travelling at more than 300mph from two miles away.
The anti-aircraft laser — mounted on a warship — successfully shot down three other drones during testing.
Grainy black and white video emerged last night showing one of the drones being shot down.
The footage shows the aircraft flying above the sea. It is then hit by the weapon's unseen 500-kilowatt beam.
Flames then trail from the back of the drone as it plunges into the ocean.
Details of the secret trials carried out by the US Navy off the coast of California in May were revealed yesterday at the Farnborough International Air Show.
The US carried out the tests in a joint operation with Raytheon Missile Systems.
New era
Mike Booen, of Raytheon, said: "This is the first successful shoot down over water.
"We are now on path to deliver the first battlefield lasers integrated into real weapons systems."
The Raytheon Laser Close-In Weapons System produces a beam and can either be used on its own or alongside a conventional missile system.
The concept of using lasers as weapons has been around since the 1960s.
But the old method of producing a beam from a chemical reaction was too impractical for military use.
Solid-state lasers, such as the ones used in the tests, are much smaller and generated through glass or ceramic material.
It is only recently that they have been able to generate as much power as chemical lasers.
Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said the laser represents the beginning of a new era in missile technology.
He said a laser could knock out airborne threats such as mortars and rockets.
He said: "Airbases in Afghanistan, the Green Zone in Baghdad or the border with Gaza and Israel could all potentially use something like this".
Problems with laser weapons have been that damp weather conditions tend to slow down the beam and reflective surfaces can throw it off course.
But Raytheon said it is working to overcome those issues.
The company reportedly developed the system after buying six commercial lasers from the car industry and combining them to make one, powerful beam
UK SUN
A STAR Wars-style laser has been used for the first time to blast an aircraft out of the sky.
The invisible beam zapped one unmanned drone travelling at more than 300mph from two miles away.
The anti-aircraft laser — mounted on a warship — successfully shot down three other drones during testing.
Grainy black and white video emerged last night showing one of the drones being shot down.
The footage shows the aircraft flying above the sea. It is then hit by the weapon's unseen 500-kilowatt beam.
Flames then trail from the back of the drone as it plunges into the ocean.
Details of the secret trials carried out by the US Navy off the coast of California in May were revealed yesterday at the Farnborough International Air Show.
The US carried out the tests in a joint operation with Raytheon Missile Systems.
New era
Mike Booen, of Raytheon, said: "This is the first successful shoot down over water.
"We are now on path to deliver the first battlefield lasers integrated into real weapons systems."
The Raytheon Laser Close-In Weapons System produces a beam and can either be used on its own or alongside a conventional missile system.
The concept of using lasers as weapons has been around since the 1960s.
But the old method of producing a beam from a chemical reaction was too impractical for military use.
Solid-state lasers, such as the ones used in the tests, are much smaller and generated through glass or ceramic material.
It is only recently that they have been able to generate as much power as chemical lasers.
Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said the laser represents the beginning of a new era in missile technology.
He said a laser could knock out airborne threats such as mortars and rockets.
He said: "Airbases in Afghanistan, the Green Zone in Baghdad or the border with Gaza and Israel could all potentially use something like this".
Problems with laser weapons have been that damp weather conditions tend to slow down the beam and reflective surfaces can throw it off course.
But Raytheon said it is working to overcome those issues.
The company reportedly developed the system after buying six commercial lasers from the car industry and combining them to make one, powerful beam
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