Space Warfare, Directed Energy Weapons, and other future military technology

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noname

Banned Idiot
US Air Force B-2 Bomber Drops 80 JDAMS in Historic Test

The B-2A aircraft, based at Edwards AFB, Calif., flew to the test site and released the 80 weapons in a single 22-second pass. The weapons were released from four Boeing-designed and built "smart" bomb racks, flew their planned flight paths and attacked all 80 targets.

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This is not exactly new, but since then a new glide bomb has been added, but can you imagine 10 B2 bombers fly over and 800 targets destroyed....covering an area of a hundred of square miles. This is not just force mulplication, its forced squared.

Its also why the USA is cutting back on aircraft production, it just does not take as many planes to do the same job it used too.
 
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noname

Banned Idiot
High Power Laser are Maturing into
Weapons Grade Systems

Similar high power lasers are proposed as standard equipment for future manned and unmanned strike aircraft, including the F-35 and future unmanned combat aerial vehicles. The recent successful tests included the Boeing-led Airborne Laser Testbed intercepting ballistic missiles from long range, using powerful chemical lasers which have captured the headlines, but parallel programs employing solid-state lasers are also under progress. Two of the programs expected to reach maturity in the near future, are the U.S. Navy's Free Electron Laser, and the Joint High Power Solid State Laser (J-HPSSL) sponsored by the Army.

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Jonathan Campbell at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL says the answer is lasers, what the WSJ says would be "existing low-power lasers in quick pulses" to "singe the surface of an object in space" to "help point it downward." Campbell calls this Project Orion, as in the great hunter in the sky, but the Orion lasers would be based on land. (Note to self: Don't ever fly over Orion lasers.)

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I would expect a small J-HPSSL laser could be mounted in the X37b for use against satellites.

If a one kilowatt laser can shoot a drone down what could one kilowat do in space.


Behold the Laser Avenger, a cannon that could be used to take down incoming aircraft. Boeing was able to shoot a drone out of the sky with the hummer-mounted laser, even though it’s not particularly high-powered. It cooked the remote-controlled aircraft using a somewhat feeble 1-kilowatt beam

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Last edited:
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noname

Banned Idiot
U.S. launches X-51 Waverider cruise missile

X-51 Waverider aircraft. © Chad Bellay, United States Air Force, en.wikipedia.org
The United States has successfully launched the X-51 hypersonic cruise missile, which has a speed of about 6,000 km per hour, five times the speed of sound. It was released from a B-52 strategic bomber off California’s Pacific coast at an altitude of about 21 kilometers. According to a US Air Force spokesman, the flight of the X-51 Waverider was an obvious success. “We equate this leap in engine technology as equivalent to the post-World War II jump from propeller-driven aircraft to jet engines,” he said

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siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
noname said:
High Power Laser are Maturing into
Weapons Grade Systems

Similar high power lasers are proposed as standard equipment for future manned and unmanned strike aircraft, including the F-35 and future unmanned combat aerial vehicles. The recent successful tests included the Boeing-led Airborne Laser Testbed intercepting ballistic missiles from long range, using powerful chemical lasers which have captured the headlines, but parallel programs employing solid-state lasers are also under progress. Two of the programs expected to reach maturity in the near future, are the U.S. Navy's Free Electron Laser, and the Joint High Power Solid State Laser (J-HPSSL) sponsored by the Army.

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Jonathan Campbell at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL says the answer is lasers, what the WSJ says would be "existing low-power lasers in quick pulses" to "singe the surface of an object in space" to "help point it downward." Campbell calls this Project Orion, as in the great hunter in the sky, but the Orion lasers would be based on land. (Note to self: Don't ever fly over Orion lasers.)

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I would expect a small J-HPSSL laser could be mounted in the X37b for use against satellites.

If a one kilowatt laser can shoot a drone down what could one kilowat do in space.


Behold the Laser Avenger, a cannon that could be used to take down incoming aircraft. Boeing was able to shoot a drone out of the sky with the hummer-mounted laser, even though it’s not particularly high-powered. It cooked the remote-controlled aircraft using a somewhat feeble 1-kilowatt beam

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Click to expand...

In space you wouldn't need to worry about the atmospheric effects like blooming/diffraction. So yes, a laser will be more "powerful" in space.

I think the key advantage of lasers, compared to conventional projectile weapons, is that a laser beam travels at the speed of light. A missile may take a whole minute to reach its target but a laser beam could traverse the distance in the same time.

Regarding the plan to mount a solid-state laser on the F-35. Is the laser a ground attack weapon or is it going to substitute for the autocannon in dogfights? There are some F-35 variants that don't have cannons.
 
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noname

Banned Idiot
siegecrossbow said:
In space you wouldn't need to worry about the atmospheric effects like blooming/diffraction. So yes, a laser will be more "powerful" in space.

I think the key advantage of lasers, compared to conventional projectile weapons, is that a laser beam travels at the speed of light. A missile may take a whole minute to reach its target but a laser beam could traverse the distance in the same time.

Regarding the plan to mount a solid-state laser on the F-35. Is the laser a ground attack weapon or is it going to substitute for the autocannon in dogfights? There are some F-35 variants that don't have cannons.
Click to expand...

I dont have any idea, expect it might be able to blind the sensors on incomming missiles, I dont have any idea of how small you could build a one or two kw lazer. I know there was some talk about a directed EMP to fry enemy electronics, they talked about up to 75 KM.

Dirty Little Secrets Discussion Board

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Subject: Airborne Ray Guns For The Fleet
James Dunnigan 7/19/2006 12:32:56 AM


The U.S. Navy has puts its first ray-gun
equipped fighters into service. OK, that's a slight exaggeration, but
does accurately describe the new APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned
Array (AESA) radar being installed in carrier based F-18Fs. AESA
systems consist of thousands of tiny radars that can be independently
aimed in different directions. This makes it possible, for a
sufficiently powerful AESA radar, to focus enough energy to damage
aircraft or missiles. The U.S. has already been doing this with the
high-powered microwave (HPM) effects generated by similar AESA radars
used in F14, F35 and F22 aircraft



I dont trust this source all that much.
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
noname said:
I dont have any idea, expect it might be able to blind the sensors on incomming missiles, I dont have any idea of how small you could build a one or two kw lazer. I know there was some talk about a directed EMP to fry enemy electronics, they talked about up to 75 KM.

Dirty Little Secrets Discussion Board

Sign In Return to Topic Page
Subject: Airborne Ray Guns For The Fleet
James Dunnigan 7/19/2006 12:32:56 AM


The U.S. Navy has puts its first ray-gun
equipped fighters into service. OK, that's a slight exaggeration, but
does accurately describe the new APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned
Array (AESA) radar being installed in carrier based F-18Fs. AESA
systems consist of thousands of tiny radars that can be independently
aimed in different directions. This makes it possible, for a
sufficiently powerful AESA radar, to focus enough energy to damage
aircraft or missiles. The U.S. has already been doing this with the
high-powered microwave (HPM) effects generated by similar AESA radars
used in F14, F35 and F22 aircraft



I dont trust this source all that much.
Click to expand...

I've heard about using radars as microwave weapons before. This is certainly no joke since the radiation emitted by powerful radars are capable of hurting human beings. There is a reason why radar operators tend to lose hair at an early age.

If the laser on the F-35 is designed to confuse IR missiles it doesn't need to very high power. Here is an article on a new laser designed to be equipped on helicopters:

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Fri, Sep 3 10:40 AM
Washington, Sept 3 (ANI): A new laser technology being developed at the University of Michigan and Omni Sciences, Inc. will protect helicopters in combat from enemy missiles.

"Our lasers give off a signal that's like throwing sand in the eyes of the missile," said Mohammed Islam.

These sturdy and portable "mid-infrared supercontinuum lasers" are being made using economical and off-the-shelf telecommunications fibre optics and could blind heat-seeking weapons from a distance of 1.8 miles away.

The robust, simple design can withstand shaky helicopter flight and their mid-infrared supercontinuum mode can effectively jam missile sensors.

They also give off a focused beam packed with light from a much broader range of wavelengths. And they are the first to operate in longer infrared wavelengths that humans can't see, but can feel as heat. Heat-seeking missiles are designed to home in on the infrared radiation that the helicopter engine emits.

Because this new laser emits such a broad spectrum of infrared light, it can effectively mimic the engine's electromagnetic signature and confuse any incoming weapons, Islam said.

"We've used good, old-fashioned stuff from your telephone network to build a laser that has no moving parts," therefore being especially well suited for helicopters, Islam said. (ANI)
Click to expand...
 
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noname

Banned Idiot
US Navy orders new electric hyper-kill railgun

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then you find this:

The development of a small caliber electromagnetic railgun for use on naval ships for close-in anti-missile systems is considered recently. Railgun offers the advantages of high firing accuracy and high muzzle velocity and results in a longer intercepting distance for anti-missile mission. The goals are to destroy the new generation of anti-ship missile. In this paper, the requirement of naval ships to build a close-in weapon system for high speed anti-ship missile is analyzed. The feasibility of employing railgun on ships for close-in anti-missile systems is studied. This study focused on the railgun characteristics, and the pulsed power system needed to drive the gun. The hit and damage probability of railgun and conventional close-in weapon system are calculated and compared; in a result, railguns are suitable for close-in weapon systems.

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xywdx

Junior Member
Your post is highly misleading as always, the navy ordered ONE demo railgun.
Also I find it kinda funny the only advantage they can think of is the shells won't blow up in your storage. :rofl:
Miniaturized railguns can be suitable close-in weapon system, but they have many disadvantages compared to the old reliable CIWS system. For example the firing rate of railguns are seriously lacking, and unlike modern CIWS they can not use proximity fuse ammo.
 
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noname

Banned Idiot
xywdx said:
Your post is highly misleading as always, the navy ordered ONE demo railgun.
Also I find it kinda funny the only advantage they can think of is the shells won't blow up in your storage. :rofl:
Miniaturized railguns can be suitable close-in weapon system, but they have many disadvantages compared to the old reliable CIWS system. For example the firing rate of railguns are seriously lacking, and unlike modern CIWS they can not use proximity fuse ammo.
Click to expand...

You did not mention one of the pluses like
The railgun's range of 230 miles (or 200 nautical miles) means a warship could engage targets as far as 400 nautical miles apart,
Click to expand...

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siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
xywdx said:
Your post is highly misleading as always, the navy ordered ONE demo railgun.
Also I find it kinda funny the only advantage they can think of is the shells won't blow up in your storage. :rofl:
Miniaturized railguns can be suitable close-in weapon system, but they have many disadvantages compared to the old reliable CIWS system. For example the firing rate of railguns are seriously lacking, and unlike modern CIWS they can not use proximity fuse ammo.
Click to expand...

The key advantage of the railgun is not the lack of powder but the much higher terminal velocity achieved. The terminal velocity of a projectile propelled by gunpowder is restricted by the gunpowder's rate of restriction. There is no such restriction for a rail gun. The main problem with rail guns right now, besides the energy consumption, is severe barrel wear due to the fast velocity of the projectiles. I think they'd need breakthroughs in material science to reduce the maintenance costs of this babe.

My school's EE department is working on a Railgun for the U.S. Navy. You guys can check it out on the University of Texas at Austin Electrical Engineering website if you are interested.
 
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