US Army Tests "The Laser"
Energy weapon maker Northrop Grumman [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/19/abl_ground_tests_full_power/] has announced further successful ground tests for the mighty laser cannon installed in America's prototype nuke-blasting jumbo jet.
The laser aircraft is being developed by the US military's Missile Defense Agency, which envisions a fleet of blaster-jumbos able to mount standing patrols off the coast of North Korea and incinerate hostile nuclear ICBMs as soon as they lift off - should North Korea develop a working ICBM.
After "multiple long-duration, lethal" blasts were fired on the ground the system is being set up to test the actual shootdown of a real ICBM set for later this year. Long duration in this case only relates to three seconds, but company energy-cannon chief Dan Wildt said the laser could easily have kept blazing for longer, but this would have destroyed or melted the ground test equipment.
The energy gun will need tweaks to its chemical fuel mix before it is fit to take on these next round of firings though, as these will be in the air.
Rumors of it being incorporated into a "Death Star" were responded to with loud coughings and the words "rip off" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Evil].
Source: The Register [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/19/abl_ground_tests_full_power/]
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Energy weapon maker Northrop Grumman [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/19/abl_ground_tests_full_power/] has announced further successful ground tests for the mighty laser cannon installed in America's prototype nuke-blasting jumbo jet.
The laser aircraft is being developed by the US military's Missile Defense Agency, which envisions a fleet of blaster-jumbos able to mount standing patrols off the coast of North Korea and incinerate hostile nuclear ICBMs as soon as they lift off - should North Korea develop a working ICBM.
After "multiple long-duration, lethal" blasts were fired on the ground the system is being set up to test the actual shootdown of a real ICBM set for later this year. Long duration in this case only relates to three seconds, but company energy-cannon chief Dan Wildt said the laser could easily have kept blazing for longer, but this would have destroyed or melted the ground test equipment.
The energy gun will need tweaks to its chemical fuel mix before it is fit to take on these next round of firings though, as these will be in the air.
Rumors of it being incorporated into a "Death Star" were responded to with loud coughings and the words "rip off" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Evil].
Source: The Register [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/19/abl_ground_tests_full_power/]
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