Military Laser Slices Steel 1km Away

[JonB]

Military Laser Slices Steel 1km Away

The 50kW laser is capable of performing even in adverse conditions like rain, ice, and snow.

German company Rheinmetall Defense has tested a 50kW military laser and proven that not only is it effective, but that lasers may be the future of Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) technology. Using two lasers superimposed over each other, one 20kW and the other 30kW, the machine is capable of producing a single 50kW beam that can cut through 15mm of steel a kilometer away. While that would be impressive in and of itself, the lasers are mounted on existing air defense turret technology, and can track moving targets using radar. To this end, the laser was used to shoot down several unmanned drones flying down at the surface at a speed of 50 meters a second - about 111 miles per hour. Finally, the weapon was used to track and destroy an 82mm - about three inch - steel ball as it hurtled towards the surface. The steel ball is about the size of a mortar round. The laser functions even in weather conditions that might be thought to interfere with lasers, such as ice, snow, rain, and bright sunlight, contrary to popular beliefs about laser weapons.

Rheinmetall Defense hopes to test a 100kW laser next year, saying in a press release that "nothing stands in the way of a future weapon system with a 100kW output." The company wants to pair a 50kW laser with 35mm automatic cannon, to see how the pairing fares against simply laser based defense systems. Rheinmetall also intends to mount their laser systems on mobile platforms, and have already chosen the TM-170 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM-170] as their initial candidate. Rheinmetall defense is based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The tests were undertaken at the Ochsenboden proving ground in Switzerland.

Source: Singulary HUB [http://singularityhub.com/2013/01/07/german-military-laser-destroys-targets-over-1km-away/]


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[Cid Silverwing]

Terrifyingly ambitious, if I do say so myself.

Starting to wonder how long it'll be before lasers obsolete gunpowder.

 

[Quazimofo]

Now that is pretty awesome, but how well does it fare when it comes to rapidly switching targets? If it can pull that off, then perhaps these things can even stop MIRV warheads (not necessarily nukes, since nukes are not the exclusive users of that tech), and that would be truly awesome.

 

[Quazimofo]

Terrifyingly ambitious, if I do say so myself.

Starting to wonder how long it'll be before lasers obsolete gunpowder.

I doubt gunpowder/projectile weapons will ever become 100% obsolete. Lasers are awesome, but there ain't nothing like a bolter round (which SOMEONE should be working on RIGHT NOW).

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

It's always the Germans, isn't it? Still, very fascinating. Conventional guns will never be taken out of production however. This stuff sounds incredibly expensive and even if a handheld weapon were devised, I bet it would be very limited. Probably using a powerpack on the back or something for energy. Who knows...

 

[Elijah Newton]

Now to find some sharks.

(please, by all that is good, have we finally arrived at the happy day when nobody catches the reference?)

 

[Lt. Rocky]

Now all we need to do is attatch those lasers to some sharks.

EDIT: To Newton: No, because you just ninja'd me. Blast.

 

[Sean Kay]

Terrifyingly ambitious, if I do say so myself.

Starting to wonder how long it'll be before lasers obsolete gunpowder.

I doubt gunpowder/projectile weapons will ever become 100% obsolete. Lasers are awesome, but there ain't nothing like a bolter round (which SOMEONE should be working on RIGHT NOW).

Look up Gryojet weapons, they're closest anyone's gotten to handheld rocket projectiles. And the AA-12 with frag shells is vaguely bolter esque

Silverwing, I don't see lasers overtaking conventional weapons, you can't carry the power source you need

 

[Kargathia]

Now to find some sharks.

(please, by all that is good, have we finally arrived at the happy day when nobody catches the reference?)

You seriously expect to make a reference to sharks with lasers, and get away with it?

This all does make for some interesting problems though - it's not like you can hook up a 50kW laser to the mains.

 

[Falterfire]

Great! That saves one step for my villainous R&D department when I get around to actually constructing my island hideout.

 

[cerebus23]

i knew that the cancellation of the dragon tank was a lie.

Now all we need to do is attatch those lasers to some sharks.

EDIT: To Newton: No, because you just ninja'd me. Blast.

you could just say mount it on a horses head.

bow before the lasercorn!

lol epic win, this is like star wars stuff here and now, and these are small lasers? forget guns its going to be naval air and armor units that this stuff will change the most. imagine our nuclear carriers will already have the ability to power something like this and fitting guns on them not that a big a deal. tanks that can carve enemy tanks in half, slice buildings to pieces, fit one on a airplane it becomes an near unbeatable death glider, if it has accurate lasers that can track aircraft, or even missles, it can nearly instantaneously destroy them.

i feel we will all have to make due with our gunpowder hunting rifles and shotguns and pistols any deployment type would be along the lines of a heavy gunner with a bulky and heavy backpack because the kind of power these things need will not be human portable any time soon or small enough to fit inside a rifle housing or something. once we can fit 30kw in the size of a small battery, and obviously it would have to be much more than that to have more than one shot, but we get there then we will see star trek phasers and blaster pistols and the like. but would take some massively powerful large charge battery tech that has not been invented as far as i know.

 

[weirdee]

Now that is pretty awesome, but how well does it fare when it comes to rapidly switching targets? If it can pull that off, then perhaps these things can even stop MIRV warheads (not necessarily nukes, since nukes are not the exclusive users of that tech), and that would be truly awesome.

switching targets would be fairly simple since the speed of light kind of gets rid of the whole "leading your targets" issue

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Well, future war-craft are going to have a hull of a time avoiding a beam from this.

Amiright? Anyone? No?

I'll see myself out...

In all seriousness, this is pretty frickin' sweet. Would be interesting to see where they go with this.

 

[Frezzato]

Spoiler: i knew that the cancellation of the dragon tank was a lie.

If only that was on Kickstarter, I'd support it. That or 'Resurrect Megalodon'.

We need to step up and create a common foe for humanity to rally against. Terrorism didn't do it. Neither did global warming. SOPA kinda worked, but now the danger is gone. Four words: Armored, explosive, rocket bees.

Spoiler: Nice try, Metalstorm! Good effort.

Man that siren cracks me up every time.

 

[Tar Palantir]

I really don't understand how this is awesome.

I think this is REALLY scary

 

[Froggy Slayer]

Now, we can actually have mechs, because them being tall enough to see hueg distances and hit things with the lasers is finally justified!

Please?

 

[Frezzato]

Four words: Armored, explosive, rocket bees.

you area very, very bad and sadistic person, you know?

Oh man, thanks for that! I was actually feeling a little down and that genuinely cracked me up.