US Navy hits drone with HELIOS laser in successful test
The destroyer Preble successfully test-fired its HELIOS system on a drone target, according to a recently released report.
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When will Lasers be standard US military weapons?
- Thread starter Aloha Hoosier
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I saw that story and was dumbfounded....US Navy hits drone with HELIOS laser in successful test
The destroyer Preble successfully test-fired its HELIOS system on a drone target, according to a recently released report.
I could've sworn that Val Kilmer invented this technology 40 years ago. He used it to fill his professor's house full of popcorn.
Would you think that this could be an even bigger game changer to warfare than drones? A weapon that doesn't need to be reloaded (minus the elec and inert gases), travels at the speed of light. Thoughts?US Navy hits drone with HELIOS laser in successful test
The destroyer Preble successfully test-fired its HELIOS system on a drone target, according to a recently released report.
Do lasers work in heavy cloud conditions?US Navy hits drone with HELIOS laser in successful test
The destroyer Preble successfully test-fired its HELIOS system on a drone target, according to a recently released report.
Further reading
The Undying Appeal of Nikola Tesla’s “Death Ray”
Despite a lack of evidence, many have been captivated by the electrical whiz’s most mysterious project.
www.sciencehistory.org
Interesting side note when Tesla died John Trump, Donald’s uncle was assigned to take control of Tesla’s assets by the government. John Trump was a professor at MIT at the time.Do lasers work in heavy cloud conditions?
Further reading
The Undying Appeal of Nikola Tesla’s “Death Ray”
Despite a lack of evidence, many have been captivated by the electrical whiz’s most mysterious project.
Doesn't it take the laser quite a while to recharge (or whatever term they use) to be ready to fire again?US Navy hits drone with HELIOS laser in successful test
The destroyer Preble successfully test-fired its HELIOS system on a drone target, according to a recently released report.
Completely unrelated to the actual topic but This was some Impressive Shooting and a Big Win for the USS Stockdale:
Now I may be trapped in World War Two era thought processes here but it's always been my impression that 5 inch guns where/are designed to be utilized in the barrage (flak) mode of Anti-Air Defense rather than tracking and destroying mode...
Great Shooting! 🍺🇺🇸🍺
Now I may be trapped in World War Two era thought processes here but it's always been my impression that 5 inch guns where/are designed to be utilized in the barrage (flak) mode of Anti-Air Defense rather than tracking and destroying mode...
Great Shooting! 🍺🇺🇸🍺
My second job in ships was as Gunnery and Missiles officer on my first ship. We had a 5-inch gun and shooting it was a blast. Anti-air was not its purpose at the time. It was for gunfire support for troops ashore primarily, but also anti-ship and anti-small boat. As with everything we have on ships these guns have been continually upgraded. It now has better anti-small boat capability with essentially extremely large shotgun like shells for example.
I'm no laser expert, but I know it takes a very large amount of energy so the ships they're on as prototypes have more electricity generating capability than is normal.
Don't lasers make it rain monsoons and hurricanes? I swear I read that on the Twitters.
Seems like they'd be good fit as a missile/drone defense platform on a nuclear aircraft carrier... That's just a guess though...; I know zip about the actual power available after all other uses of a ship sized reactor.
Carriers don't travel alone. The cruiser in the task force is usually the air defense commander so it would likely have the laser, or one of the destroyers. Cruisers are all being decommissioned in the next few years so that responsibility will move to one of the destroyers.
I was aware of that but given the power requirements of an air defense type laser with any serious range it would just seem to fit a vessel with a nuclear reactor better...
I'm outa my lane here though because I have little real idea about how much available usable power actually exists (after standard usage needs) on any vessel currently in the fleet...
As an aside, I have another nephew who's either on the Stockdale or the Truxton (I've lost track; Dad had a huge family on his side of things and we're not a close knit group just due to numbers and age differences)... Have two others currently Active Duty Army and another in the Coast Guard... Oddly enough, no Marines... I think they looked up to my father as the military gold standard and figured it'd be impossible to match his record (in the USMC) so they gave it a shot in other services (and have all excelled)... He mentored all of them right up to his passing...
US Navy hits drone with HELIOS laser in successful test
The destroyer Preble successfully test-fired its HELIOS system on a drone target, according to a recently released report.
I would suspect the will be somewhat standard military fare sooner rather than later. That said, I don't see them replacing kinetic weaponry anytime soon.
What are the differences between cruisers and destroyers - or, has it become mostly semantics with destroyers now able to do double duty? Just curious.
The Air Force has been researching air to air Laser platforms for decades... The known issues were size and power requirements and ice crystal deflection (from what I recall)... By now I'm guessing some of those issues have been overcome... Space (outside our atmosphere) would be the most obvious area for their use (or from space To earth targets)...
My last ship was a cruiser. It basically has twice the fire power of a destroyer in missiles and guns, a larger crew and more senior and experienced officers. However, they're continually upgrading the Arleigh Burke destroyers, and they have a cruiser like destroyer that will be coming soon.
