Posted 01.26.2010 at 10:52 am
14 Comments
Boeing's laser weapons have already shown the power to blast aerial drones from the sky, but may find even more immediate use in detonating roadside bombs, which are a top killer of soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. A newly unveiled video shows the company's truck-mounted Laser Avenger destroying two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during a series of 50 test firings that took place at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama last September, according to OptoIQ.
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Technology, Jeremy Hsu, boeing, bombs, energy weapons, EOD, explosive devices, ieds, lasers, roadside bombsThe full tests involved setting off different artillery munitions, bomblets and mortar rounds. This latest video clip shows Laser Avenger focusing its hot stare on two different IEDs from far-off and destroying them -- a huge advantage for soldiers who can detonate potential threats from the safety of their armored vehicles. Laser Avenger combines a directed energy weapon with a 25-millimeter machine gun, and represents just one of the truck-borne lasers that Boeing hopes to field.
Boeing has also experimented with airborne lasers that can take out ground vehicles and even knock out missiles in flight. We might have to start making flowcharts to keep all the laser-weapon family trees straight.
[via OptoIQ]
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Pew pew pew. I love America
--GTO--
if popular science is blabbing about military weapons, wouldnt it be easy for al queda just to drop in on this sight to see the progress of our laser weaponry?
they might start thier own laser weapons program.
@extremechiton
Yes they can come in here and see this. It does not equate to having the science and engineering capability to create the listed tech.
All it can do is show them that in the near future the IEDs they love to use and talk others or pay others into using will be much less effective.
Witch will be nothing but good for our troops.
I agree, but I hope they actually do spend the money to build a laser program. Ours only cost a 'few' billion dollars and decades of research...
hehehehee now they HAVE to use Suicide Bombers :D
Though they are more dangerous.....
That Laser needs to heat those IEDs up Faster.
how about IEDs that are not in the middle off the open but are in a parked car or under grass?
What a fucking bunch of morons!!! More tax dollars down the boeing drain.
To employ a laser in such a way is to be fully dependent on a line-of-sight position.
Who the fuck puts IED's in plain sight? Nice story but doubtful this will ever see the light of day.
"Abusus non tollit usum" - Wrong use does not preclude proper use
Soon fighter plans will be useless as they will not be able to dodge ground based lasers, like they do a surface to air missle..
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't some kind of reflective device make the laser useless?
Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking...yeah thats right, life size version of galaga. Time to throw away your ataris boys and girls, Boeing's about to revolutionize gaming.
really cool. but i agree with dumbazzthought. can this laser penetrate the ground? yet another tool to destroy IED's without putting humans in danger
This is great if you can see the IED from far away- it saves the bomb disposal guys having to risk their lives up close. But this does nothing to help you find the IEDs in the first place! I don't think many troops are harmed by bombs they spot from a distance.
@All4it
There is no such thing as a perfect mirror. Any mirror is going to absorb a lot of heat when exposed to such powerful lasers. Even a quality mirror takes money and technology, something at odds with people using crude improvised weapons. Plus, maybe it's the soldier in me, but I don't think it'd be easy to camouflage a mirrored bomb. :-)
you guys realize that these guys are using things like artillery shells from the 70's to make most of the IEDs. The type of people here have no technology. Getting them to find a good counter measure would require them to steal it from someone else. just like everything else they have. They should just give up now and say f*** it. I like the idea of flying it overhead and detonating randomly in their shops. Puts a little fear in them.