High-powered, jet-mounted laser one step closer to flying the terrifying skies
By Laura June 
posted Feb 26th 2009 8:47PM
posted Feb 26th 2009 8:47PM
The jet-mounted laser anti-missile system, brainchild of Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and the US Air Force, has been an ongoing project for quite some time. Well, it's progressed into a final test phase, as evidenced by a new video, which shows the plane strapped with a pilot-controlled laser which is able to intercept missiles significantly earlier than other existing anti-missile tech. The project has plans to continue testing throughout this year, but will also need to be approved by the Obama administration if it is to come to fruition. Feel free to insert obligatory Dr. Evil joke in comments. Check out the video after the break, but fair warning: it autoplays.
Fricken Lasers!
I'm done.
It's a chargin' it's lazer!!
What we need is to put one of these over sized bad boys in space...
That way when the terrorists go hiding intheir filthy little holes we can cook-em up without having to set foot in their nut-job country...
Cook-em up nice and good!
"Do you expect me to fund this project?"
-No, Mr. Obama, I expect you to die!
Shouldn't these be strapped to the backs of sharks?
I heard the navy is working on it's own shark mounted version designed to take out torpedos.
@ barcode;
You are thinking red alert 2.. and its not the navy, its Yuriy.
Real Genius.
La puta madre, estos gringos.
Ehh, ¿ k sobre los gringos?
tacos
A burrito is a sleeping bag for ground beef.
Back in the 60's, I had a weather changing machine that was, in essence, a sophisticated heat beam which we called a "laser." Using these "lasers," we punch a hole in the protective layer around the Earth, which we scientists call the "Ozone Layer."
If you use plains, you are even closer to the Ozone. =P
plains? planes?
no, the central part of the united states. You know....plains. :/
I want this on my car, not to take out missiles, but to blow up the guy that just flipped me the bird after cutting me off.
Nazi grammar police get me for the use of plains not planes.
No, that would be the "spelling police".
I
Good point.
I disagree.
So is this Starscream?
I seriously doubt that engdaget readers will resort to friggin laser beams on friggin sharks heads... That is just too low for this esteemed group..
So... a short leap from planes to spacecraft. We'll be at Star Wars/Trek any day now.
Until the magic power of mirrors is discovered...
Actually the heat would melt most mirrors... so maybe...
They should use this as a bird deterrent
Get off the internet, please.
But can they hammer a 6-inch spike through a board with their penis?
Nice Real Genious quote. Probably wouldn't have caught it if the I hadn't just caught the movie the other day. Good ole' G4TV keepin the classics alive.
Lasers? Why not a preparation H comment?
Forget friggin' sharks, the proper pop culture reference here is popcorn.
Dear missiles,
You are fucked.
Sincerely,
Lando
Obama has already said he plans on slashing military and defense spending. Missiles may actually stand a chance.
LASER WEAPONS = USELESS
All you have to do is build a missile with the SAME highly-reflective mirror finishes seen used to control the beam path in this video and the laser will bounce off and probably hit the plane itself!
In other news, missiles now become fully equipped by mirrors, deflecting any laser burst coming from, say, a plane!
in the latest update to the news story we broke last night. the mirrors now now only deflect but reflect sending the same laser beam back at plane - effectively blowing it up.
IMA CHARGIN MA LAZOR!!!
5 second paint job.
http://img9.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shoopdewhoop.jpg
oh and IMA FIRING MA LAZER
rofl
Well, seems like new missiles will not be painted, but will all be covered by smoothly finished shiny metal. It will be very hard to penetrate through a perfect mirror like metal by laser.
Something is only reflective/shiny because it return the visible light spectrum. we don't know the frequency that this laser will use (it will be classified) is it would would just about impossible to create an effective reflector for for it.. If laser has a rotating frequency then forget it...
An ablative armor (a thick foam that burns off but at a high temperature might help...
Or just launch a 100 dummy missles... and see try to overwhelm the system... ]
Target the plane is the best best...
This is a tough tactical nun to crack...
Stop cracking nuns.
Prolly a chemical laser lasing across multiple bands.
Kind of the only way to get high enough output to actually destroy something at any kind of range, esp through the atmosphere. That is to say, you need "broad band" lasers that can be allowed to lase across any band it can find resonance with.
This is pretty common in Argon Ion lasers as well as some kinds of Helium Neon lasers, so many bands lasing in unison that it appears white to the naked eye, and lights up an IR sensor like a christmas tree.
Also, all it takes is making a hot/soft spot on the side of a missile near it's propulsion system to cause failure, which is really what they're going for. The idea that they're going to vaporize a target of any real mass with any laser system known to man currently, in 1 sec bursts, is kind of absurd.
Also, they could use it to ionize the outer surface of the missile, likely causing its guidance system to wig out.
Of course my favorite theoretical weapon (but proven mechanic) is the high energy laser that creates the ion trail for a huge capacitor bank to dump into :D tesla coil ftw
There's no such thing as a perfect mirror, and at the power levels this laser operates at anything that ISN'T a perfect laser quickly becomes a lump of char. A well polished missile might last a tenth of a second longer. It's almost as if someone has considered this possibility before investing billions into this technology.
"pew pew!"
Amazing how something so cool can sound so boring. Video needs to be dubbed with a bit more excitement :P
yea something like, (with movie preview narrator voice)
"In a world where no one is safe on the air, a combat-ready aircraft equipped with supercharged (airquote)LASER(/airquote) could hunt down, shoot, and completely annihilate any enemy warplanes and/or missiles deemed threatening to the sovereignty of the United States of America and her people. Operated by the proud men of United States Air Force..
THE TURRET-MOUNTED L A S E R!!! ..Kim Jong Il's gonna get the chills.
Obama would never let us do that. Instead he wants to grow every form of government except the Department of Defense.
Thanks to all you who voted for Obama, pay attention to what he does and what he says, they are two COMPLETELY different things.
Maj. USAF
53rd Rescue Squadron
Amen
It's a good thing Obama is putting that money to a good cause: building a $500,000 Dog Park in Chula Vista, Ca.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123369271403544637.html
Yeah, those missiles have to stop hitting the U.S.A. We get like, what, at least 0 of them everyday hitting our land, they're killing at least 0 civilians. This has to stop. We need this shit now. What's Obama thinking???