Talk-Polywell.org

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcmI6UnR4gg

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I wonder what kind of power supply they use.

Hey, I'm pretty glad point defense systems are moving forward. I'm looking forward to the day we have to mount this machine's great-grandchild on our asteroid belt mining ships to protect them from the debris.

I think all the powerful systems are chemical lasers, dependant of violent reactions with things like chlorine gas, H2O2, iodine, etc. That limits their use due to the difficulty and danger of handling these agents. Solid state lasers are much weaker, but maby they will elvolve into useful powers. Then something like a handy trailer mounted Polywell reacter would be handy.

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002078.html

In the meantime 'particle beam' weapons are used (like pedistal mounted Phalanx gatling guns set up to protect the green zone in Iraq from morters and rockets).


Dan Tibbets

looks like solid state lasers are closer to military usefullness than I thought, provided they have a handy electrical power source.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/01/30/16 ... on-system/

Dan Tibbets

Video's gone!

KitemanSA wrote:Video's gone!

Video gone?
I don't recall seeing one. There is a contempory posting about a chemical laser mounted in a C-130 aircraft that shows the laser burning the hood of a Jeep Cherokee. Is that what you are thinking of?


Dan Tibbets

Dan, I believe you are thinking of the Air Born Laser (ABL) system, though that is on the YAL-1, the military version of a Boeing 747.

Unless things have changed, ABL uses a COIL laser with the reflector in the nose to direct the beam on target.

D Tibbets wrote:

KitemanSA wrote:Video's gone!

Video gone?
I don't recall seeing one. There is a contempory posting about a chemical laser mounted in a C-130 aircraft that shows the laser burning the hood of a Jeep Cherokee. Is that what you are thinking of?

MSimon's lead post was a youtube video. That video is gone.

KitemanSA wrote:

D Tibbets wrote:

KitemanSA wrote:Video's gone!

Video gone?
I don't recall seeing one. There is a contempory posting about a chemical laser mounted in a C-130 aircraft that shows the laser burning the hood of a Jeep Cherokee. Is that what you are thinking of?

MSimon's lead post was a youtube video. That video is gone.

A video-
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/02/atl_test_vid/

And description of the C130 system-

http://www.photonics.com/Content/ReadAr ... leID=36228

Dan Tibbets