Boeing's air-to-ground laser test a success, and we have the video to prove it
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted October 4th 2009 6:37PM
posted October 4th 2009 6:37PM
Fans of future wars, heads up! What might at first blush look like a poorly placed roman candle is actually proof positive that Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is ready to do some damage. Sure, when we heard last month that the company's tests at the White Sands Missile Range were a success, we responded the same way that we always do: "video or it didn't happen." But now that we've seen it in action, we have one more question: When will its big brother, the 747-mounted ABL, get its day in the limelight? We'll keep you posted.
[Via The Register]
[Via The Register]
what is it supposed to do?!?!? someone please tell me!! all i saw was a roman candle type dealio!!!
planes with lasers on them shooting down upon civilians.. thats what their literally testing
A unicorn fires a lazer attached to its horn from a dragon 1 mile off the ground, causing anything in its path to burn
Kill or destroy something from a plane or possibly from space
World's most dangerous cigar lighter.
Time to get your foil hats on.
A billion dollar laser can be bested by a 1 dollar mirror.
PEW PEW PEW!
@WindowsFTW Hardly : The mirror isn't 100% efficient in reflecting the beam. It will burn through the mirror.
Eric.
I'd like to see that.
Show me one video of any laser (military grade or otherwise) that has managed to burn through a mirror.
Now Ghaddafi can pay for the Lockerbie Bombing...
from an airborne laser cutting him in half.
But you are right Eric, no mirror is 100% reflective, and any light that is not reflected is absorbed, so technically it's possible
In this case, I just don't believe it to be pragmatic since it would require a great deal of localized energy being outputted for a lengthy duration of time...something that this Boeing laser just doesn't seem to be able to do at the speeds it will ultimately be traveling and without overheating the laser unit itself.
There are a lot of variables that will have to come into play to make it work, especially in Air to Ground mode.
@WindowsFTW: While a normal mirror may be burned thorugh ... some of the latest advances in mirror technology could really reap havoc with this. Imagine one of these mirrors ( http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn16585-amazing-mirrors/1 ) designed so that no matter what angle you are looking at it, it reflects straight back to you. Super smooth, super fancy, make it of a material that can take a bit of heat and you're golden - even if you get it dirty, dirt gets burned off, and boom. Design these puppies onto helmets and we have all types of problems.
so now my ex-girlfriend can damged my car from the air?
Trillion-dollar paint remover.
@Maztec... sounds like a good way to get a missile pumped down your throat.
That's what HE said!
don't you guys think they took into account the whole mirror thing? i remember reading before that Boeing said that the 747 mounted version would be able to burn through any reflective coating/armor on a missile.
Has no one mentioned popcorn yet?
Friggin great! Now we are only one step away from...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw
I cant wait for a few years when they will have to issue mirror sided flack jackets..
lol shiny!!
The nova laser, the most powerful laser ever built channeled laser light using mirrors. So, it might theoretically possible to burn a hole through a mirror, but it wouldn't be feasible.
Perhaps, if you're laser was in a frequency that the mirror didn't reflect you could do it. You'd want a frequency that can go through wood and metal. That way you can fry the operators in a tank but leave the tank perfectly fine.
As somebody who works in an actual laser lab, I feel the need to clarify.
-Yes, it is possible to design a mirror that will reflect this laser.
-There is no way said mirror will cost $1. Just recently, I accidentally burned a 1/2" diameter mirror that was $300. It reflected a 500 mW laser. The ATL is literally a million times stronger.
-Even if you did have this crazy expensive mirror shielding, all it takes is a few dust particles on the surface to defeat it. They absorb the energy from the laser and transmit the energy as heat, instead of light, which will do the damage.
Depends on what the wavelength of the light is from the laser, and what type of wavelength of light the mirror is designed to reflect. Some lasers can easily cut through reflective surfaces such as mirrors.
So are people going to yell "don't Laze me Bro!" from now on?
Qaddafi paid the families of Lockerbie $10,000,000 each.
The US paid the families of the Iranian airline that was shot down by
the US $300,000 each.
And recently revealed evidence shows that the US paid $3,000,000 to a
key witness in the trial of the accused Libyan.
If he was responsible for the bombing, then why did the key witness
have to be bought?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jgWKJToCrr94nK1R9gkwjGuhUb4g
What exactly am I looking at?
A laser in a plane firing at a car on the ground.
I agree, all I see is war propaganda. That doesn't even show the plane firing it! We have no idea what started that tiny fire.
I've been waiting for this. Its going to revolutionize assassinations.
Imagine being able to set Kim Jong il's head on fire from 40,000 feet?
PEW PEW PEW INDEED !
The world's most expensive Cigar lighter. Now Billionaires can have their cigars lit by employees just as they start flying off to a business trip.
What you are looking at is not a laser like they want you to believe, it is really another iPod catching on fire.
(I kid)
Doctor, I feel a strange burning sensation when i drive.
Skynet's humble beginnings.
Military +1
Local Uprising -1,000,000
Could be that the damn plane wasn't even in the air and the test was done on the ground, from 5 feet away, there's no way to know right now.
Also the article says: "In the offered clip the laser beam doesn't seem to penetrate the vehicle's bonnet, but Boeing have previously announced that the ATL has "defeated" a stationary vehicle in tests, so it could be assumed that the blaster-gun is capable of doing so."
Which doesn't sound that impressive.
You're looking at Harry Potter setting a car on fire, obviously.
is that a bird? is that a plane? no its a laser!
IMA FIRIN MA LAZER!!! SHOOP DA WOOP
Ugh not again! i just got that paint job, crazy kids need to stop graffiti...ing my car!!
ummm... that video didnt really prove it to me. need more detail...
your joking right?
yes
I'm not! I want to see more thinks BURNN!! BURN BABY BURN
Where's that commenter that said "PEW PEW PEW". I wanna uprank him again.
PEW PEW PEW
PEW PEW PEW!
pew pew pew!
Oh you can't fool me. It was bighap. lol
we still can haz up-rank =)?