BrotherofSnake
09-05-2005, 07:35 PM
The High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), a weapon system that is under development by The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will weigh around 1,650 lbs (750 kg). In an effort to combine the high energy density of a solid state laser with the thermal management of a liquid laser, the "HEL weapon" as it has been dubbed by its developers, is a prototype capable of firing a mild one kilowatt (kW) beam. Plans are underway to build a stronger 15-kW version by the end of 2005 and an even more powerful version that will produce a 150-kW beam that is capable of knocking down a missile will be ready by 2007 for fitting onto fighter aircraft.
Liquid lasers that can fire a continuous beam require large cooling systems, while solid state laser beams are more intense but must be fired in pulses to stop them from overheating. In the past, both types of lasers were very bulky because of their need for these huge cooling systems. The only aircraft they could be fitted to were the size of jumbo jets.
Source:
http://www.darpa.mil/tto/programs/hellads.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050824/tc_nm/laser_dc_1
Liquid lasers that can fire a continuous beam require large cooling systems, while solid state laser beams are more intense but must be fired in pulses to stop them from overheating. In the past, both types of lasers were very bulky because of their need for these huge cooling systems. The only aircraft they could be fitted to were the size of jumbo jets.
Source:
http://www.darpa.mil/tto/programs/hellads.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050824/tc_nm/laser_dc_1