The Cellar - Laser pod could destroy bombs

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Laser pod could destroy bombs

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Wednesday, August 22, 2007By SHELBY G. SPIRESTimes Aerospace Writer
Boeing developing vehicle-mounted device for Army
Army and Boeing Co. engineers hope Redstone Arsenal tests of a vehicle-mounted laser beam could one day help soldiers clear their path of dangerous roadside bombs, unexploded ordnance and enemy aerial vehicles. Boeing is developing a laser pod that can be mounted on its Avenger Agile Multi-Role Weapon System. The one-kilowatt, solid-state laser would be used to destroy explosives and possibly shoot down enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, said Phil Hillman, Boeing project manager for the Avenger program in Huntsville.

"The key goal is to use the laser to melt away the explosives and destroy the bomb or unexploded ordnance at a safe distance without setting it off like it was intended to do. That will keep damage down and keep troops and people in a safe" area, Hillman said during last week's Space & Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville.

Boeing already uses its 20-year-old Avenger system as the foundation for its Agile Multi-Role Weapon System, which is designed to allow U.S. forces the ability to use a variety of rockets, guided missiles and guns to tackle ground and air threats. The Army and Boeing have been testing those variants in combat in Iraq, and got feedback and opinions from combat troops who expressed a desire for a weapon that could be used to disable roadside bombs, said Debra Rub-Zenko, Boeing vice president for Integrated Missile Defense.
"We saw a way to use this platform in a different way and bring something more to" soldiers, Rub-Zenko said.

In addition to roadside bombs, Boeing engineers hope that the laser pod can be used to swat small enemy UAVs out of the sky, said Gary Fitzmire, Boeing vice president for directed-energy programs. "That's our plan for 2008," he said. Fitzmire said the laser still has to be tested and improved, and "the key area we want to test out and develop is shoot-on-the-move capabilities to strike the UAVs." The laser pod has to be stable so the advanced optics can be used to generate a beam to strike small aircraft such as UAVs.
For ground use, the laser system will be tested at Redstone beginning around the first of September, Fitzmire said.
Hillman said the system would be produced and integrated at Boeing's Huntsville JetPlex facility.

Star Wars becoming reality was inevitable. After all, people in DOA procurement saw it too.

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Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 379216)

Star Wars becoming reality was inevitable. After all, people in DOA procurement saw it too.

And since they can see those bombs, instead, they drive around them. Wow. A steering wheel makes obsolete a $multi-million laser.

It's a solution looking for a problem. Welcome to the world of basic research.

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Originally Posted by tw (Post 379338)

And since they can see those bombs, instead, they drive around them.

There's a bomb there, too.

this is the beginning of the laser beam era.

this is merely a 'practical' application that allows them to play with the targeting systems while they work on making the lasers tight enough to do real damage in a meaningful role. disarming bombs and shooting down remote controled aircraft is just a hook to get funding for the research, right? so, yeah, tw...a solution looking for a problem. so that it can survive and grow into a big soution looking for a big problem.

remember Real Genius? when they filled the prof's house with popcorn and cooked it with a laser from space? we could do that!

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Originally Posted by tw (Post 379338)

Not that easy. First the patrol is tied up securing the area until the bomb squad gets there. Secondly, disarming it is very risky business, not only from the bomb, but usually there are bad guys waiting to attack survivors, rescuers and anyone else in the open. If you find it before it finds you, having the ability to disarm it yourself, from a safe distance, is a big advantage.

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Originally Posted by lumberjim (Post 379349)

this is the beginning of the laser beam era.

That gets NASCAR types all excited. However this same week, Intel Haifa in cooperation with UCSB released details of a silicon based laser. This missing component makes possible replacing an entire electrical communication circuit with an optical circuit of multiple time division and wavelength division multiplexing. Pulse widths of 4 picoseconds with stable (jitter free) operation. This in combination with another woman who had slowed light to the speed of a bicycle and now has stopped (stored) light - light memory.

A toy that blows things up is cute. But the real power of lasers is more found in what is done constructively.

Meanwhile a bomb that cannot be seen makes the laser useless. A bomb that can be seen is taken out even by a grenade - that does not cost $multi-millions. The IED that cannot be seen even converts a $multi-million laser into a victim.

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Originally Posted by tw (Post 379487)

A bomb that can be seen is taken out even by a grenade - that does not cost $multi-millions.

You can't throw a grenade far enough, to be safely away from that blast. But more importantly, the don't want them going off because of collateral damage.

Mounting the laser on a vehicle is just one of the steps between that airborne monster and personal weapons. I can't wait for the civilian version of them.

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Originally Posted by tw (Post 379487)

A toy that blows things up is cute. But the real power of lasers is more found in what is done constructively.

yeah, like the lighting at a club.

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Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 379544)

I can't wait for the civilian version of them.

You can already buy lasers in various colors that can even light a match. Imagine how Humphrey Bogart you might be when lighting the lady's cigarette from across the room. Only $600 in Scientific American(?).

Naw, you can't check out cleavage from across the room.

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Originally Posted by tw (Post 379574)

Or you can make one yourself with the diode from an old DVD burner and a battery.

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Originally Posted by glatt (Post 379660)

Or you can make one yourself with the diode from an old DVD burner and a battery.

You're like McGlatter!

Now only if it works on walking or driving bombs it might really be useful..