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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of adewolf adewolf
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    Where is the PEW,PEW on the picture...harrrummmmmph
     Reply
    Margatron promoted this comment adewolf was starred adewolf was unstarred
    Image of Margatron Margatron
    10/02/09

    @adewolf: ...and why isn't this filed under Pew Pew? Harrrummph harrrummmmph!
     Reply
    Margatron was starred Margatron was unstarred
    Image of se7a7n7 se7a7n7
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying

    If Luke Skywalker was there, he would have been all like vermmm vermmmm whooooaaammm and totally block that laser with his lightsaber.
     Reply
    se7a7n7 was starred se7a7n7 was unstarred
    Image of BeatrixAjax BeatrixAjax
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    @ripfire: but that's just it.... "keeping it steady" is 95% of actually aiming any weapon.. especially one that's 3 miles away mounted to a large vibrating aircract moving at 200mph, and keepingit aimed over that period of time to a tolerance of a few inches... pretty impressive.

    try keeping your later pointer aimed at a 12" box from a fotoball field away from a moving car and how easy it is to aim with any accuracy, then imagine it being 17 times further
     Reply
    ripfire promoted this comment BeatrixAjax was starred BeatrixAjax was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    10/02/09

    @BeatrixAjax: Trust me. Keeping it steady is the least thing they have to worry about.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of speaknspell23 speaknspell23
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    I'm not impressed until it pops popcorn.
     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis promoted this comment speaknspell23 was starred speaknspell23 was unstarred
    Image of EpiphyteCorp. EpiphyteCorp.
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    Did anybody catch what color the laser was? I want to be sure I know what color the good guys are shooting.
     Reply
    ripfire promoted this comment EpiphyteCorp. was starred EpiphyteCorp. was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    10/02/09

    @EpiphyteCorp.: They're using clear.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of ebob9 ebob9
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    Would have been better if they loaded the truck up with popcorn.
     Reply
    ripfire promoted this comment ebob9 was starred ebob9 was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    10/02/09

    @ebob9: That would be the win-win situation.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    That video looks like it was fast forwarded. How long does it really take to fry a truck? It seems like a huge plane following some small vehicle for 15 minutes, slowly heating it with a laser, would be the most awkward battle ever.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of switchblade saints switchblade saints
    10/02/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: and it looked like it only achieved paint damage.
     Reply
    switchblade saints was starred switchblade saints was unstarred
    Image of dcartist dcartist
    10/02/09

    @switchblade saints: agreed. If that laser were hot enough to burn through the steel truck hood, you'd think we would have heard and seem some loud stuff going on there, because the power involved would force something to crack, or warp signficantly.

    The accuracy is probably more impressive than the power though. (Then again a stationary target with a high contrast black box painted on it, and it didn't even hit the middle of the box... if we're picky)

    You have that kind of aiming system, probably better off firing a rail gun at it or something.
     Reply
    switchblade saints promoted this comment dcartist was starred dcartist was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    10/02/09

    @dcartist: Aiming is actually easier than it looks. Try it for yourself: take a laser pointer and aim it somewhere really far away. It's not that hard. Only thing you have to worry about is keeping it steady.
     Reply
    Edited by ripfire at 10/02/09 11:40 AM ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    I can here the driver of that car screaming "MY PAINT JOB! Damn you Americans, your paying for that."
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    Seriously? That's what we spent all that money on, and waited almost 10 years longer than expected for? I could do that with a big magnifying glass.

    I'll take 7000 cruise missiles, 300 Reapers and 15,000 Hellfire Missiles instead, please.
     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of e-friend cuts you e-friend cuts you
    10/02/09

    @weatherman: You don't go from zero to Star Wars in 10 years.
     Reply
    weatherman promoted this comment e-friend cuts you was starred e-friend cuts you was unstarred
    Image of taniquetil taniquetil
    10/02/09

    @weatherman:

    Yeah, but then you'll be shooting cruise missiles and I'll be like "I"M FIRIN' MAH LAHZER!!"
     Reply
    weatherman promoted this comment taniquetil was starred taniquetil was unstarred
    Image of bagellord bagellord
    10/02/09

    @weatherman: But how will you launch all of that firepower?
     Reply
    bagellord was starred bagellord was unstarred
    Image of icelight icelight
    10/02/09

    @weatherman: I think you're confusing the Airborne Laser (ABL), the multi-billion dollar missile defense project, with the Airborne Tactical Laser, which this is.
     Reply
    weatherman promoted this comment Edited by icelight at 10/02/09 10:54 AM icelight was starred icelight was unstarred
    Image of Xeno Xeno
    10/02/09

    @weatherman: That's why the project is being canceled.
     Reply
    Xeno was starred Xeno was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    10/02/09

    @icelight: yes, the two are very closely tied. In my mind the ATL is really just an attempt to spin off another use for the same technology in order to justify spending the eight billion dollars on the ABL.
     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of switchblade saints switchblade saints
    10/02/09

    @e-friend: 10 years? We have had working lasers for 50 years now. That is plenty of time.

    They can shoot people with sound, that shouldn't be beating lasers dammit.
     Reply
    switchblade saints was starred switchblade saints was unstarred
    Image of OtisCabeal OtisCabeal
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    I bet if they just put some light wight fiberfrax or durablanket on that.... or a mirror you could defete this billion dollar weapon for less than 100 bucks
     Reply
    weatherman promoted this comment OtisCabeal was starred OtisCabeal was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    10/02/09

    @OtisCabeal: this eight billion dollar program...
     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    The sizzling sound that the truck makes is hair-raising. Also, notice that you can't hear the plane (Hercs have a distinctive sound signature). They don't state the range that the laser's being fired from but I imagine that the plane's not very close.
     Reply
    Edited by Jeb_Hoge at 10/02/09 10:37 AM Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of gallahad gallahad
    10/02/09

    @Jeb_Hoge: A quick search didn't find how far they fired from, but wiki says the range of the laser is 20km. That's pretty far away.
     Reply
    weatherman promoted this comment gallahad was starred gallahad was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    10/02/09

    @gallahad: actually, I just did the math and 20km is 12.4 miles. Which is about 2000 feet outside of national airspace, which basically means that if North Korea took all their missiles to the very edge of their shores and decided to launch them right there, we might just be able to hit them if we just happened to be flying at just the right time and just the right place.

    I know, I'm exaggerating slightly, but this has to be the one of the biggest boondoggles in military spending ever. The whole program stinks of corruption intended to get Boeing a peace of the Star Wars spending. Pew, pew indeed.
     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of gallahad gallahad
    10/02/09

    @weatherman: You're talking about a different laser. The AC-130 one is an entirely different system with a different purpose in mind (attacking ground targets). The missile one is on a 747. According to wiki, the 747 system isn't practical for ground targets because the plane flies much higher than an AC-130 would. And, because it's higher, it has a longer range... wiki says the design specification is 600km. Whether or not is actually works, though, they're still learning a lot about lasers and you can be sure that knowledge will find its way into other things.
     Reply
    Edited by gallahad at 10/02/09 1:29 PM gallahad was starred gallahad was unstarred
    Image of switchblade saints switchblade saints
    10/02/09

    In reply to Video of Airborne Tactical Laser Hitting a Ground Target Is Not Very Satisfying
    woot!
     Reply
    switchblade saints was starred switchblade saints was unstarred
    Image of linuxidiot linuxidiot
    10/02/09

    @switchblade saints: I like this better

    [www.youtube.com]
     Reply
    switchblade saints promoted this comment Edited by linuxidiot at 10/02/09 10:46 AM linuxidiot was starred linuxidiot was unstarred
    Image of switchblade saints switchblade saints
    10/02/09

    @linuxidiot: great, now I cant wait for july 4th haha
     Reply
    switchblade saints was starred switchblade saints was unstarred
    Image of slyman928 slyman928
    09/14/09

    In reply to This Is What 400,000 Volts Looks Like Applied to Film
    this has nothing to do with the post but do u guys remember wen there was a post with a pic on how to fix a computer and it said look it up on google or something, does anyone kno what im talking about and could give a link or something?

    that pic tho is pretty sweet
     Reply
    slyman928 was starred slyman928 was unstarred
    Image of G.O.D. G.O.D.
    09/14/09

    @slyman928: Yah here you go
    www.google.com
     Reply
    Curves promoted this comment G.O.D. was starred G.O.D. was unstarred
    Image of Interstella5555 Interstella5555
    09/14/09

    @The Analrapist: Half Analyst Half Therapist: I think he was actually looing for this one:
    [lmgtfy.com]
     Reply
    TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment Interstella5555 was starred Interstella5555 was unstarred
    Image of slyman928 slyman928
    09/15/09

    @Interstella5555: no smartasses i tried looking it up on google it was a picture with a diagram i think and it pretty much said use google and i think it also said now ur the office tech guy or something along those lines
     Reply
    Margatron promoted this comment slyman928 was starred slyman928 was unstarred
    Image of Margatron Margatron
    09/15/09

    @slyman928: Is this what you're looking for?
    [gizmodo.com]
     Reply
    Edited by Margatron at 09/15/09 11:36 AM Margatron was starred Margatron was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    09/14/09

    In reply to This Is What 400,000 Volts Looks Like Applied to Film
    I saw in a movie (some chick flick I think) where an artist ran metal rods into sandy soil to act as lightning rods. After the lightning stuck them, it melted the sand into glass that had shapes with beautiful patterns that this reminds me of. So stark and jagged, yet so lovely and perfect.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of G.O.D. G.O.D.
    09/14/09

    @Curves: I stuck metal rods into my girlfriend and watched what happened when lightning struck the rods, not as beautiful but cool just the same.
     Reply
    Curves promoted this comment G.O.D. was starred G.O.D. was unstarred
    Image of N@tedog N@tedog
    07/14/09

    In reply to US Military Hackers Could Pwn Enemies Using Real Bombs, Missiles
    This is not complimentary of our DoD's abilities. It's like when one kid can't think up a good enough comeback his face turns red, he screams in frustration and then fists start flying. Use your words, America.
     Reply
    N@tedog was starred N@tedog was unstarred
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