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]
Hmmm... does not look very intimidating in its current state.
I have a guy who keeps bumping my car when he parallel parks. He won't know what hit him.
is this the one that was in POP SCI???
Now I can call in an airstrike AND cook my bacon!
this thing can be really handy if for some reason you want some fresh popcorn on a sunny desert day
...but i think it's just stupid since popcorn makes you thirsty .....
Surrender now Commie or face having the paint damaged on every Yugo parked in Red Square!
So are you implying this thing is 50 years too late?
Zombie Billy Mays could buff that right out with some Fix It Pro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk9Pcjgb1z8
Zombie Billy Mays: 1
Boeing: 0
lol
in soviet russia they're chargin their lazas
LASERSSSSSS!!!!!!!
The future is now!!
I think we've all been had. It looks to me like someone poured gun powder on the hood of a car, lit it up, videoed it and then posted it up on Youtube saying it's a "laser".
I say, if there's no PEW PEW or blinding flash of light, it didn't happen.
Next time I have a burnning headache, I know what happens.
did the car died?
Ok, so now that you've got some video of it happening, how about video of what happened to the engine block? If there is a quarter sized hole through it after the 4 seconds of pew pew pew, this would be 1000x more impressive.
Now they can smoke the back of an IED hole digger's skull without harming the young boy watching him, capturing it all on IR video.
At least without harming him physically. That kid is never gonna go anywhere without a roof over his head again though.
American tax payers money at work!
TIP thinks this is Ludacris.
Reminds me of when I used the magnifying glass to ignite matches, and torture ants. But the magnifying glass was quicker than the laser!
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY CAR?!?!?!?!
I can just see the pilot of this thing yelling "I"M A FIREIN MA LAZER!" ;)
I thought they would have used the laser to fill a house full of popped popcorn.
Looks like the heat source is under the hood, I don't see any beam. So when Hugo comes down with a really bad sunburn, how do you use plausible deniability?
Laser or tiny pile of thermite?
Wouldn't it have been cheaper to stick a giant magnifying glass on a plane or satellite? ;)
but can it be used to make a house full of popcorn?
I'm I the only one who thinks that's too little damage for such big a weapon?
Ha, Ha.
Cloudy days could snuff burning insurgents. This laser attack canceled due to bad weather;)
all i want to know is can i spawn it on scribblenauts?
Great. Another powerful weapon to enable Uncle Sam to spead yet more 'democracy'.
I dont like where this is going... I forsee this becomming the satilite in Gears of War (hammer of dawn)... Dont like the fact that I could be walking down the street and all of a sudden be vapourised by a pin-point-accuracy laser from outer-space.
PEW PEW PEW
Ambassador: Aww, and how about we give you access to a satellite that can scratch your ass from space with a high-tech laser beam.
Peter: They have those!?
Lasers CAN and are used to cut glass mirrors... GO here and read the thread: http://www.digitsmith.com/archives/laser-engraving-glass-mirror-and-pricing.html (yes, it discusses how one business person uses their laser to cut glass mirror with mirror side
Ya know.... I get sick of hearing people yap on about things without FIRST researching to determine whether the statements they make are based on (or somewhere in the ballpark of) the truth...
In other words...
Its another pussy weapon for pussy soldier boys who fight sitting on a chair eating a Big Mac.
Such valor! Not...
They should play "I lost my Car to a starship tropper" as background music
It was news items like this that led to me to stop reading The Register. I don't like my tech news being mixed togehter with weapons development news. Techie or not, the development of technology designed to enhance and further warfare is, at the least, at odds with development designed to enhance and improve communication, productivity, entertainment, transportation etc. I accept that a lot of technology crosses over from military to civilian, but had the development been civilian in the first place we might just live in a better, more peaceful world.
Please, stop with the "Technology that kills" reports
(I hope that because I am just voicing my personal point of view relevant to the article my comment won't be voted down because people don't agree with my socio-political views)
this looks like another lame AR demo to me
Great. Now all we have to do is make another enemy and start another war so we can justify spending our tax dollars on this crap.
there should have been tears for fears playing and a ton of pop corn.
Finally after 24 years it comes to fruition... I like how the Real Genius trailer makes it out to look like Chris Knight is looking for revenge, which is part of it, but the main motivation is to keep something he co created from being used to kill people. Yes, I've watched this movie way too many times.
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v417595kEH9cYHC
What happens if the laser hits something reflective?
Instead of calling it the Boeing Advanced Tactical Laser or Boeing ATL, I think they should just call it the BAT Laser ... then it sounds like something that Mr. Wayne might have up his sleeve, or in one of his vehicles.
Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?
How long before these are mounted on sharks?
What's funny to me is how many of you think the laser was fired at full power. The current testing regime is meant to prove that the COIL system and the targeting system work while in flight.
I doubt we'll ever see the results of a full power test on Youtube.
Boeing’s Advanced Tactical Laser strikes moving target
"Advanced Tactical LaserThe Advanced Tactical Laser recently damaged a mobile target for the first time with several direct hits from the system’s laser during a flight over White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The ATL has now precisely targeted both stationary and moving targets, showing the versatility of this capability. “The ultra-precision characteristics and resulting reduction of collateral damage from the ATL can give our military customers many new options,” said Dave DeYoung, Advanced Tactical Laser program manager. The ATL, which Boeing is developing for the U.S. Air Force, is a C-130H aircraft equipped with a high-energy chemical laser and a beam-control system."
I don't see laser's beam (actually, interference of beam and flame or smoke). I afraid, it’s not a laser in a clip ((
Great. Another powerful weapon to enable Uncle Sam to spead yet more 'democracy'.