chinese laser weapon development

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Yeah, that was just a rookie level scenario.

Here is a tournament level mass swarm scenario. Oh, the poor drones :D

No doubt that laser will be the dominating factor going forward. I think that the proliferation of drones created a nice niche for the weapon. Previously lasers were held back because killing targets such as missiles and planes within a short duration of time required very powerful weapons out of reach for electrically powered lasers. They had to use heavy and expensive chemical lasers instead and those werent very practical. However, smaller drones could be dispatched by relatively low powered lasers, essentially creating an environment for which militaries can incrementally improve laser performance as they field the weapons.
 

Nobonita Barua

Senior Member
Registered Member
No doubt that laser will be the dominating factor going forward. I think that the proliferation of drones created a nice niche for the weapon. Previously lasers were held back because killing targets such as missiles and planes within a short duration of time required very powerful weapons out of reach for electrically powered lasers. They had to use heavy and expensive chemical lasers instead and those werent very practical. However, smaller drones could be dispatched by relatively low powered lasers, essentially creating an environment for which militaries can incrementally improve laser performance as they field the weapons.
Hello,
this is an off-topic question. Is there any thread here that is related to rail gun development?
 

Lnk111229

Junior Member
Registered Member
Yeah, that was just a rookie level scenario.

Here is a tournament level mass swarm scenario. Oh, the poor drones :D
Look impressive. Those laser is on level of Command and Conquer weapon. Just few questions: How Raytheon will supply enough power for those weapon? Especially those on mobile platform. Is US already have Arc Reactor technology?
 

Max Demian

Junior Member
Registered Member
Look impressive. Those laser is on level of Command and Conquer weapon. Just few questions: How Raytheon will supply enough power for those weapon? Especially those on mobile platform. Is US already have Arc Reactor technology?

I think we can assume that these were 100kW class weapons, because this is the power level of the HEL TVD the US Army is currently procuring. A fiber laser has an electrical efficiency close to 30%. Assuming 90% efficiency along the optical path, gives 370kW input electrical power. That's well within the power range of a Tesla Model S sedan.

EDIT: Raytheon was competing for HEL TVD (shown in video), but appears to have lost to Lockheed Martin.
 
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Max Demian

Junior Member
Registered Member
No doubt that laser will be the dominating factor going forward. I think that the proliferation of drones created a nice niche for the weapon. Previously lasers were held back because killing targets such as missiles and planes within a short duration of time required very powerful weapons out of reach for electrically powered lasers. They had to use heavy and expensive chemical lasers instead and those werent very practical. However, smaller drones could be dispatched by relatively low powered lasers, essentially creating an environment for which militaries can incrementally improve laser performance as they field the weapons.
Indeed. I am not sure if everyone realizes this, but weapons of this class are already capable of taking out subsonic cruise missiles. For harder or faster targets, multiple beams can be aimed at the same spot on the target. Rheinmetall demonstrated this capability 8 years ago when they shone five 10kW laser beams at the same target simultaneously.

If you scroll to 6m15s point of this video, you can see how such a technique would work out against cruise missiles:

EDIT:
This will be hugely disruptive to nations who don’t have an adequate counter-measure in development. We are on the cusp of a major paradigm change. The USN LCS Little Rock will be fielding a 150kW Lockheed Martin laser on its next deployment.
 
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siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Here is an interesting compact laser weapon marketed for anti-terrorism related purposes. It requires a battery backpack and could generate up to 8 KW of power in short bursts. It is effective against human targets, could set off enemy ammunition, and could blind or disable optics.

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gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
The problem with lasers is that until the lasers become more efficient or the power units become more compact they aren't all that useful.
I have heard of recent advancements in microwave power beaming which might be more interesting than lasers to be honest.
 

Max Demian

Junior Member
Registered Member
The problem with lasers is that until the lasers become more efficient or the power units become more compact they aren't all that useful.
I have heard of recent advancements in microwave power beaming which might be more interesting than lasers to be honest.
They are already efficient enough for mounting on vehicles and ships.

IPG Photonics, the world leader in high-power fiber lasers has attained wall plug efficiencies of up to 50%.
 
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