http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 6:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Or from Megashark. ]]>Feb 12th 2010 7:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 7:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
I'm a Mac, and killing sharks with lasers was my idea.]]>Feb 12th 2010 9:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 9:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 9:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
But now the sharks can also fly
http://www.themadhat.com/images/flying-sharks.jpg

good thing we have flying tanks
http://www.aramsay.co.nz/images//flying_tank.png]]>Feb 12th 2010 10:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
--snap--

--snap--

--snap--

--snap--]]>Feb 12th 2010 10:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
+2]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 11:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB).

Coming from California, it's a good thing they didn't name it:
'Airborne Laser That Totally Annihilates Bombs'

(ALT-TAB)

That could have been confusing.]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Slim Pickens kicks ass!]]>Feb 12th 2010 1:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 1:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 2:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
http://io9.com/5470224/here-comes-sharktopus]]>Feb 12th 2010 2:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/man, a 747 w/ a laser. thats huge. what am i gonna do w/ all these laser cats, they dont stand a chance]]>Feb 12th 2010 2:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Utterly awesome, I stand in awe of your sense of humor and timing.]]>Feb 12th 2010 3:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Reflective paint wouldn't work. Nor would mirrors.
There's no such thing as a 100% reflective surface. Such a material would violate the laws of physics. So even if you reflect part of the energy away, the rest of it is still going to cause the surface to heat up. As the reflective surface heated, it's properties would change, causing it to reflect even less energy away.
In short, the reflective paint would catch fire and then let the laser burn through the rest of the missile completely unimpeded.]]>Feb 12th 2010 4:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
That was awesome. I actually took my hand off the mouse for a second to snap and whistle a little.]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2009/1/3/633666228647673689-flyingchucknorris.jpg]]>Feb 13th 2010 9:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Apr 4th 2010 4:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 6:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 7:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 8:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
I feel weird when I see the weapons I used in Starcraft appear in RL...
am I going crazy? Am I sitting in a white cell all by myself?!

I guess I'll know when the Zerglin rush approaches, I can hear them from across the mountains already...]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 6:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 7:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Wouldn't work.
The mirror would have to be perfect... no blemishes.
That isn't plausible since all sorts of soot and crap get on the missile during launch.


]]>Feb 12th 2010 8:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Gold missiles anyone?

]]>Feb 12th 2010 8:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Not all of the light gets reflected so the mirror heats up. This heats deforms the mirror and causes the effects of the laser to increase. After this happens it is pretty much 'all she wrote'. ]]>Feb 12th 2010 9:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
The window to blow it up is pretty small as well as ICBMs move much much faster than 747s, and the lasers effective range is not that far.

The whole project is a waste of money because it'll never work, is easy to defend against and stupid because it just winds up Russia, China, etc by unbalancing the current nuclear status quo. America not for the win on this one sorry.]]>Feb 12th 2010 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Also think about the added weight of the mirrors on the missile if they are strong enough to resist a multi-megawatt laser.]]>Feb 12th 2010 10:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Just gold-plate the missile. Great IR reflector.

As someone else noted above, you don't have to reflect ALL the energy, just ENOUGH of the energy.
]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
Sufficienly polished, all metallic surface act as mirror. If the offending missile is reflecting atleast 70-75%, its survival odds increase greatly. Not all that difficult for the enemy nations to craft such a missile.]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 12:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/This isn't a laser pointer we're talking about. If you think that a mirror reflects 50% of the energy that hits it even when its clean, you're either way off or in possession of some kind of super-mirror. The math has been done on this several times: there is no material currently available that would be able to adequately defend a missile from a laser of this intensity. With cutting edge materials kept perfectly polished, you might be able to survive one or two pulses. But after that the material would heat up, warp, and start concentrating the heat instead of dispersing it.
They're not going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a system like this without considering possible defenses against it.]]>Feb 12th 2010 4:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 13th 2010 9:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 13th 2010 4:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Apr 13th 2010 11:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 6:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Feb 12th 2010 6:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/20/eurekas-emp-cannon-destined-for-the-marines-video/]]>Feb 12th 2010 10:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/alone, or in pairs
everyone knows it's Laser]]>Feb 12th 2010 6:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
That is all. ]]>Feb 12th 2010 6:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
I think this one just goes Peeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww *boom*]]>Feb 12th 2010 11:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/grammatical error or written in code words, where "shark" refers to something...tell us what you know engadget]]>Feb 12th 2010 6:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/Is this engadget, or engrammar? ]]>Feb 12th 2010 8:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/so being engadget means you can make all sorts of grammatical errors?
]]>Feb 12th 2010 9:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
In short, yes. Please see a lot of previous articles.]]>Feb 12th 2010 9:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/12/boeing-747-destroys-ballistic-missile-with-laser/
In short, yes. Please see a lot of previous articles for reference.]]>Feb 12th 2010 9:19AM