Sci/Tech US Army Moves Ahead With Mobile Laser Cannon

[The Helper]

The Army is moving ahead with plans to mount a laser cannon on a massive, 35-ton-plus truck.

The service just handed Boeing a $36 million contract to "continue developing a truck-mounted, high-energy laser weapon system that will destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds," according to a company statement.

Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase II contract, awarded Aug. 15, Boeing will complete the design of, then build, test and evaluate, a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. Boeing also will develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD laser weapon system.

Low power demonstrations are scheduled for 2010, with battlefield-strength laser tests to follow in 2013.

Army Moves Ahead With Mobile Laser Cannon

The Army is moving ahead with plans to mount a laser cannon on a massive, 35-ton-plus truck. The service just handed Boeing a $36 million contract to "continue developing a truck-mounted, high-energy laser weapon system that will destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds," according to...

www.wired.com

 

[BANANAMAN]

I wouldn't be surprised if they begin construction on a orbital laser platform soon

 

[seph ir oth]

Based off that picture, the vehicle will still get owned by sticky bombs. :thdown:

 

[Dr.Jack]

> Based off that picture, the vehicle will still get owned by sticky bombs.

Well, it would weigh 35 tons or more... It would take more than one sticky bomb to hurt that monster.

 

[seph ir oth]

Well, it would weigh 35 tons or more... It would take more than one sticky bomb to hurt that monster.

The enemy doesn't need to "hurt" it, but rather just take out a tire or two to ruin its mobility. From there, all you have to do is raid it.

Would it sense and destroy roadbombs, too? If not, that makes this kinda useless imo :thdown:

 

[Seb!]

More money down the drain. THIS is a good use of money but well-fare is a socialist pork-barrel runaway spending project.

 

[Merowlin]

So... a attempt to scare Russia, and lame one at that.

Seriously, when will people learn that their own greed will be their downfall.

Learn from the oldest economical superpowers in the world. They are still huge, because they are NOT ruling their country based on personal agenda.

Once the oil runs out, USA will fall (unless the war breaks out before that), which pretty much explains why they keep making up excuses to why they have to bomb oil driven countries. It's pretty obvious that their ruling over the oil market is only to prolong the stability of their society.
As soon as Russia runs out of oil and gas, they too are going down the drain. the only fuck't up country left then is China, and I have no idea what's keeping them in the loop (well, hehe, I do, but it's just a ploy theory).

No, I tell ya, if the ww3 doesn't break out, Britain and France will be back at the top, along with... China...

In a 1000 years from now, we don't have to worry, because (crazy theory time) China will literally have taken the world. Just look at it right now, each country has a "to be" china town, rising from the dust - were the only used languages are Mandarin and Cantonese, obviously, this is a phenomenon that will give the world to China. Not that I have anything against the Chinese, but at this time, they actually seem to be doing it without even realizing. ... Then again, China is known for simply "waiting" until they get what they want... and it has evidentially worked just fine so far




...and yes, don't take me seriously, because I'm not

 

[BlargIAmDead]

The enemy doesn't need to "hurt" it, but rather just take out a tire or two to ruin its mobility. From there, all you have to do is raid it.

Would it sense and destroy roadbombs, too? If not, that makes this kinda useless imo :thdown:

You're thinking in terms of the War on Terror. I'm guessing the people in charge of this project are considering...larger scale conflicts.

The links to other military laser projects are interesting, and worth taking a look at.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

why bomb the truck when you can snipe the driver and take it for yourself? ^^
also that thing is fucked up.... one day ur walking down the street u see a huge monster with a gun attached on tope, u go up for a closer look and zap there is a 2 foot big hole in u and ur looking down at yourself from heaven wondering where the fuk the us got the money for that shit. man the world is deffinatly comming to an end >>

 

[esb]

I doubt they would use it where unnecesary. It has the possibility of the enemy capturing one or more and getting the tech themselves.

 

[Dr.Jack]

Army Orders Pain Ray Trucks; New Report Shows 'Potential for Death'

After years of testing, the Active Denial System -- the pain ray which drives off rioters with a microwave-like beam -- could finally have its day. The Army is buying five of the truck-mounted systems for $25 million. But the energy weapon may face new hurdles, before it's shipped off to the battlefield; a new report details how the supposedly non-lethal blaster could be turned into a flesh-frying killer.

The contract for the pain ray trucks is "expected to be awarded by year's end," Aviation Week notes. "A year after the contract is signed, the combination vehicle/weapons will start be fielded at the rate of one per month."

It's been a very long time coming. As we've previously reported, there have been calls to deploy the Active Denial System in Iraq going back to 2004. But it's always been delayed for legal, political, and public relations reasons. Anything that might be condemned as torture is political dynamite. Interestingly, the version being bought is not the full-size "Version 2," but a containerized system known as Silent Guardian, which Raytheon have been trying to sell for some time. They describe Silent Guardian as "roughly 1/3 the size and power of the other Active Denial Systems," and quote it's range as "greater than 250 meters." The larger system has a range somewhere in excess of 700 meters.

More.

Just some more recent information about this war-machine. Found it interesting.

 

[Varine]

The enemy doesn't need to "hurt" it, but rather just take out a tire or two to ruin its mobility. From there, all you have to do is raid it.

Would it sense and destroy roadbombs, too? If not, that makes this kinda useless imo

They'll probably actually have tracks on it or some kind of reinforcement in the tires.

And we already have vehicles to take out IED's.

I doubt they would use it where unnecesary. It has the possibility of the enemy capturing one or more and getting the tech themselves.

We'll probably just be putting them in bases or something for defense, not driving them around on convoys. That would be kind of stupid.

THIS is a good use of money but well-fare is a socialist pork-barrel runaway spending project.

Why is it the government's fault that people are too useless to get a job?

 

[BANANAMAN]

mmm crispy rioters..

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

LOL omfg bananman that made my day, even tho im going to sleeep in a sec xD

 

[Seb!]

Why is it the government's fault that people are too useless to get a job?

Why is it my wallet's fault that a bunch of ignorant teenagers want to go kill some Arabs?

 

[esb]

Because those arabs would jack your wallet, and kill you.

 

[Varine]

Why is it my wallet's fault that a bunch of ignorant teenagers want to go kill some Arabs?

I'm not going to bother explaining it because, as you've exemplified in the past, you don't know enough about the state of the Middle-Eastern world to even remotely grasp the consequences of not fighting terrorism.

esb did a relatively nice explanation that you probably won't agree with anyway, though. So why is it our fault that a bunch of ignorant teenagers, or young adults I don't know how old you are, want to force us to retreat and then get attacked again and then have to go right back there again?

 

[Seb!]

As you (rightly so) my comment as ridiculous, I too see your original comment as more of a joke than an argument.

 

[New_U.S.]

Source: http://www.globalfirepower.com/

Theres a side by side comparison between the U.S. and both Russia and China respectivly. It excludes somethings that I find important such as quality of weapons, training, nukes, etc... Yet (in my own humble opinion) these help the U.S. in many cases. For example, notice how the U.S. greatly beats both countries in air power. This fails to mention that the U.S. is the sole holder of the top ranked aircraft in the world (F-22 Raptor).

Besides from this, the U.S. also has (also in my own humble opinion) the strongest ally list. NATO is the United States trump card vs Russia (NATO countries currently include Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States [countries highlighted in red I have considered of sizable power, not to take away anything of any of the other countries, trust me, they arn't weak ]). The United States also has other major allies throughout the world including Isreal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Iraq.

Ok, so keep this all in mind, and you think we need to be pissing ourselves when we see Russia's teeth? This new weapon wouldn't be about a show of military strength, it would be the United States attepting to make sure it can constantly improve its military. Factual proof that our military is badass .

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

The United States also has other major allies throughout the world including Isreal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Iraq.

iraq and america are allies? never knew that