Who'd trust the Navy with Lascannons...?

[Denzark]

Fish-heads, Lascannons - 'Nuff said methinks.

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13033437"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13033437[/URL]

[Drew da Destroya]

I like that it's called a HELgun... it's clearly AP3.

I wonder if that was a single "shot", or a sustained "beam" that set the engines alight. A single shot would be pretty useful, but if you have to hold a beam on there, it'd be pretty tough to target.

[Grailkeeper]

Looks to me like a low powered meltagun

[scadugenga]

I like that it's called a HELgun... it's clearly AP3.

I wonder if that was a single "shot", or a sustained "beam" that set the engines alight. A single shot would be pretty useful, but if you have to hold a beam on there, it'd be pretty tough to target.

I would guess a sustained beam.

But that's just guessing.

[Skragger]

Soon we'll see the senate erupt into debate over the pronunciation of "las"

[Necron2.0]

Hmm.

The US Army has already deployed a lasgun (see timestamp 3:16):
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxcwlJ30uAw[/url]

Of course, they say it's just to explode ordinance, but I question that. I've worked on military projects. You don't need so sophisticated a targetting system for targets that cannot move. The video indicates it takes 3 seconds to burn through an artillery casing. Wonder how long it takes to boil a man's brain? With a sophisticated targetting system and high-speed servos for rapid target acquisition, how many targets could it neutralize in a second?

[Denzark]

Mr Necron2.0. I'm not sure what projects you have worked on to give you such insights. Maybe you have some sort of uber-magenta level clearance.

But I'm not 100% sure that the DoD, having given a supposed cover story for a piece of kit, would want it's contractors denying that on a public geekery forum no matter how unlikely!

It may actually be capable of melting the minds of the cockroach inside Kim Jong-Il and President I'madinnerjacket of Iran in one fell swoop from inside the oval office but if they say ordnance disposal, ordnance disposal it clearly must be

[DarkLink]

Hmm.

The US Army has already deployed a lasgun (see timestamp 3:16):
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxcwlJ30uAw[/url]

Of course, they say it's just to explode ordinance, but I question that. I've worked on military projects. You don't need so sophisticated a targetting system for targets that cannot move. The video indicates it takes 3 seconds to burn through an artillery casing. Wonder how long it takes to boil a man's brain? With a sophisticated targetting system and high-speed servos for rapid target acquisition, how many targets could it neutralize in a second?

It takes a lot of enegy to create a laser strong enough to kill a person. It's like using a tank to shoot one guy. That's a lot of work when you can just put a bullet in their head, though it would work in a pinch. Shooting down missiles and the like, though, requires things tha only laser and advanced targeting systems provide.

The technology to have an AI target human beings doesn't exist to the best of my knowlege. It's too difficult for computers to recognize something as mundane as a person and automatically target them, and even if they could do it then you have to create some sort of IFF system which is even harder to do. Small, metallic, fast moving objects like missiles or rockets, however, are much easier to pick out.

Here's the airborne version, btw:
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1[/url]

[Connjurus]

It takes a lot of enegy to create a laser strong enough to kill a person. It's like using a tank to shoot one guy. That's a lot of work when you can just put a bullet in their head, though it would work in a pinch. Shooting down missiles and the like, though, requires things tha only laser and advanced targeting systems provide.

The technology to have an AI target human beings doesn't exist to the best of my knowlege. It's too difficult for computers to recognize something as mundane as a person and automatically target them, and even if they could do it then you have to create some sort of IFF system which is even harder to do. Small, metallic, fast moving objects like missiles or rockets, however, are much easier to pick out.

Here's the airborne version, btw:
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1[/url]

Two things:

1 - The LASER the United States Navy is producing and plans on fielding in 2020 will be capable of burning through ~ 2,000 feet of steel. Per second.

2 - If an Xbox 360 Kinect can see an entire room, and pick out what are people, and what aren't, well, I'm pretty sure a far more advanced system could be created for a military.

[Skragger]

Two things:

1 - The LASER the United States Navy is producing and plans on fielding in 2020 will be capable of burning through ~ 2,000 feet of steel. Per second.

2 - If an Xbox 360 Kinect can see an entire room, and pick out what are people, and what aren't, well, I'm pretty sure a far more advanced system could be created for a military.

And someone will find a way to combine them! And the Lasect will conquer the world!