Boeing's Latest Mobile Laser Weapon Tracks and Shoots Down Drone

Sounds cool! Now lets see if we can get a smaller version of this for duck hunters.

This anti-drone laser won't be much use unless America goes to war against another advanced nation, although small drones should be getting cheaper and more capable, which means Al-Qaeda and the Taliban should be getting their hands on these eventually, as what has already happened with night-vision goggle technology (i.e. from Iran). There's no mention in the article how mobile an operational laser system will be. As drones are very hard to detect, you will need to find and acquire a target before using the laser to shoot it down, and that's a lot of systems you will need to have and support in the field. A counter-laser capability might also be developed to hunt down the laser systems. Also, will mirror-shielding the bottom of a drone protect it from a laser long enough for it to launch a counterstrike? The battlespace is getting more complicated every day.

Anti-laser reflective surfaces, however, are pretty much the opposite of stealth. So a hybrid system could cook the sneaks and shoot up the shiney ones.

Yes, this is not anti-taliban tech. This is defensive tech against future foes. If it is already trailer sized, there would be little cost in attaching a range of optical, radar, and thermal sensors and putting it on auto-fire for UAVs.

I could see such tech really tightening up a no-fly zome, and the nice thing about lasers is that even if they miss, they don't come down somewhere else.

how much does one cost?

Billions.
Did I say billions? I meant trillions....

here it goes again, "my laser shoots farther than yours" kinda thing its a race for new and ingenius new weapons and tactics.

Im actualy pretty sure reaper drones dont have programing for dogfighting.....but theoreticaly its extremely simple to re-rig them to either fire laser, m guns or their missles at the drone-killer

and yes Marcus, the battlespace is getting very complicated these days....it allows for a greater degree of innovation and stratigic flexibility, many inventors will be honored, this is a prolouge to the begining of true techological marvels

I always thought about the use of high decibal sound waves as a weapon

Example: S.W.A.T team take over a Mexican Cartel HQ

it could be a rifle atachment or seperate weapon of the team leader, painfully incappitateing the enemy, while the S.W.A.T team with head-gear to cancel out the particular sound frequency smash + trash the building and its occupants. Many more uses there could be to this.

you would have to use a lot of decibles to achieve a weapon that can break bullet proof armor.

although the intense vibration of the sound waves might cause headaches to humans and animals.

@TechnoFreakFace, this weapon already exists- the Long Range Acoustic Device. It's been used off the coast of Somalia to deter pirates since at least 2005 and is currently being employed by U.S. military in Iraq.

For those who think lasers can be deflected by giant mirrors (pathetic): Light can be deflected. Intense heat cannot.

If you want proof, take a mirror and put it in front of the nozzle of a jet aircraft. The exhaust gives off light (which is why you can see the firery thrust in the first place) but it is not effected by the presence of a mirror. That mirror will still burn from the intense heat.

These lasers are not being developed so they can simply be diffused by "GIANT MIRRORS." That would just be stupid. Just because you watch lasers bend by mirrors when you play laser tag doesn't mean weapons grade lasers (which are several times stronger than those flashlights used as toys) will do the exact same thing.

BTW, the very existence of any form of technology means that any enemy we can conceptualize, current or futuristic, has the potential of getting that equipment. Terrorist networks can get there hands on UAVs because it doesn't take much to build a toy airplane and strap a camera and explosives onto it, making it an effective weapon for recon or strike. For all we know, they can get there hands on this laser technology because it merely exist, and if it exist it can be aquired in several ways if not done by them as well.

"Welcome! to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack!!!"

To: MarcusM
Hey buddy! America STILL has advanced nations for enemies namely Russia-China! Personally, I think some people buy into the crap belched forth by the media, OMG terrorists will get a hold of UAVs! It's possible, but unlikey. You people ever hear of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty? Thats between RUSSIA and the US. It limits the nukes each country has and it expires soon!

@jessicowhite
"Sounds cool! Now lets see if we can get a smaller version of this for duck hunters."

Remember, you don't want your goose cooked before you clean it.

Hmmmm, you can always use a rifle to kill it then use the laser to cook it. It's what every outside men (and women) should have. It's going to be the new all purpose tool. You can cook things with it, you can shave with it (not recomended), and you can always kill rabid bears with it(I think it might work.) Imagine, the tech of the future.