stealth ICBMs

If you mean THEL then yea. www.defense-update.com...

www.st.northropgrumman.com...

The second link can help it has a timeline and plenty of other things.

woah . . . that was cool . . . . i didnt know these kinda thing existed . . . . anyways . . . its a shame its not deployed . . . i think this is the only sys which could take out mortars and artilary shells . . . (aprt from the britsh sea wolf system) . . .

It can take out mortars and artilery shells - they've tested it and it has done marvelously well at taking them out.

If it can be tracked by radar and burned by a laser - this thing can nail it.

Edit:

The "it" in the first sentence originally was "I" .... and I don't take out mortars very effectively....

[edit on 7-7-2006 by Aim64C]

they should replace the radar guided guns on them ships by this thing . . . should be more effective in taking out cruise misiles and other kinds of projectiles . . . . . . . or wait a sec . . . why not use it against hostile aircraft . . . . burn it in mid air . . . .


edit: fist sentence was actually radar guns

[edit on 7-7-2006 by srsairbags]

They can't. The current size of the MOBILE THEL system is the size of an 18 wheeler semi. It's WAY too big to mount on a ship in its current configuration.

Ever seen a MK 41 VLS?
Those suckers are big.

If there's anything you could mount a THEL on, it'd be a warship.

Yeah, they are. But you're not talking about the TRAILER for an 18 wheeler. It would extend so far back from where the laser is mounted you'd have to lose other systems, or even crew quarters. And you'd only be able to mount one. What happens if that one has a systems failure? You're SOL.

unless of course you used a free elctron laser! Which are smaller and completely wavelngth selectable.
www.onr.navy.mil...

[edit on 7-7-2006 by urmomma158]

Lasers can only be used as CIWS on ships because they are too short ranged to shoot down planes. And even if they could make long range lasers fit onto ships they couldn't use their long range from sea level. They cant go around land masses in the way and they cant bend to account for the earths curvature, so it may replace a Phalanx but not a Standard.

Dunno, if you could mount something like the ABL laser emitter atop the spy-1 level of a DDG superstructure, with the lasing system below, I imagine you'd have a pretty fearsome AAW weapon with decent range, at least in good weather.

If it fits in a 200 foot 747, it will fit in a 550 foot DDG.

You would have to give up some space in the ship, but that's true of any weapons system. And the advantages of a deadly accurate, long range AAW weapon, that reaches it's target at the speed of light, are obvious.

BTW the MK41 is a lot bigger than a Semi cab, closer in volume to the trailer (bigger I'd think). It's not just a bunch of doors in a deck, it's about 20' deep.



[edit on 7/7/06 by xmotex]

Well, yes of course having a precise instant AAW platform which can have more "shots" than a Mk 41 can carry missiles has its advantages but I still have questions about the range of such a configuration. Out in the open blue with no obstacles in sight it might be useful but in costal and in shore areas it might not work so well. However having a long range laser on a ship could be useful when it comes to ABM defense, it could shoot down missiles/warheads in the boost/ascent/midcourse and terminal phase if positioned right.

but then again i guess you should have a stable platform and huge amounts of power to run a system like that . . . . but this way . . . youre missing the whole point . . . . you require a billion dollar defence system . . . (lasers and stuff) to defend a multi-billion dollar targer . . . the damn ship . . . and maybe the ship can accompany an attack group and be the last line of defence for an aircraft carrier


edit: multi $$

[edit on 8-7-2006 by srsairbags]

Originally posted by xmotex
Dunno, if you could mount something like the ABL laser emitter atop the spy-1 level of a DDG superstructure, with the lasing system below, I imagine you'd have a pretty fearsome AAW weapon with decent range, at least in good weather.

If it fits in a 200 foot 747, it will fit in a 550 foot DDG.

You would have to give up some space in the ship, but that's true of any weapons system. And the advantages of a deadly accurate, long range AAW weapon, that reaches it's target at the speed of light, are obvious.

BTW the MK41 is a lot bigger than a Semi cab, closer in volume to the trailer (bigger I'd think). It's not just a bunch of doors in a deck, it's about 20' deep.


[edit on 7/7/06 by xmotex]

Uhm, I've been saying TRAILER all along. It's the LENGTH of a trailer. That's in the vicinity of 50 feet long.

Say it along with me now. TRAILER. Not CAB. TRAILER.



[edit on 7/8/2006 by Zaphod58]

The only way you could solve this is by building a free elctron laser which is difficult. Unless of course you only want the ship to do nothing but fire a laser then amybe but what a waste of money that would be.

I know you meant the trailer.

And looking at that image, the VLS appears to be larger by volume than a semi trailer - not just the cab - that was my point.

In other words, were it considered desirable by the Navy, there is certainly room in a DDG-sized warship for a THEL or even an ABL type chemical laser.

Whether it'd provide enough of a tactical advantage to justify sacrificing the space for it is another question. At this point I'd say no, because these systems aren't well-proven yet.

The current lasers used in these are, to my knowledge, chemical lasers (however, that technology is ancient - it wouldn't surprise me if they use something else instead).

However, assuming it is truely a chemical laser, let's break the length of the trailer down into sections.

First - you're going to have a computation and control station that will interpret radar contacts. This can be placed about anywhere in the ship and re-worked to target multiple systems at once. That, and it could all be placed on a chip about the diameter of the balls in ball-point pins and connected to an interface about as big as a shoebox to control the hydraulics or whatever controls the actual firing mechannism (already in place on ships).

The chemical reactor that acts to generate the light used for the laser takes up about a 10*10 area roughly. The light is then 'piped' to where it gets manipulated by mirrors and lenses to be used as a laser.

The rest of the space is displays and crew passageways.

Now - the chemical reactor for the laser weaponry can feed multiple directional units. On a warship - you could increase the size and complexity of the reactor to account for about whatever space you would normally allocate to ammunition for short-range intercept systems. This would be more than enough to feed a battery of directional units.

The other systems are already accounted for in other various parts of the ship - simply by updating/replacing their interface to account for the new system.

Voila - your new laser AMS.

Although that free-electron laser sounds pretty cool.

I've also heard stuff about particle cannons - which are pretty cool since they don't interact with mater until a 'set' distance - which means you can destroy things that are behind obstacles without having to pass over them or blast through them. Arm that kind of stuff on a satelite with the correct control systems and you could have a 'perfect' assasination weapon that could kill someone in their own homes or no matter how deep they dig into a hole. You can also make it just powerful enough to make their brain/heart a little crispy and not harm anything or anyone else in the room.

Now there's an idea.... not sure if I like the power it gives someone... but....

Originally posted by Zaphod58
Yes, but the problem is STILL going to be hitting it OUTSIDE the atmosphere. It's still pretty hot when it's in space, but after it reenters you have problems like debris falling onto your territory, which you don't want to happen.

It's really nothing compared to a nuclear detonation especially when you have prepared on site shelters for the massive majority of your urban populations like the USSR were doing for decades. It's a choice and it makes perfect sense if your willing to invest the resources required to survive.

So you still have to have a missile or countermeasure capable of hitting it while it's still in the orbital stage.

IF you can hit it at any point before it explodes that is basically success.

Stellar

The rest of the space is displays and crew passageways.

I think you left out a s--theap of tanks of reactants. THEL uses quite a few. Even the new higher-efficiency-less-tankage version.

But I have heard a rumor that there was some interest in mounting something THEL-like on a ship as a CIWS.

reply to post by srsairbags
According to the state of the art tecnology and the fundamentals of aerodynamics (see lifting bodies aircrafts), it is possible to have a modern missile that can approach after a certain distance subsoniclly and can be able to carry a smallest device kind of an airplane that, after reentrance,(It can be without reentrance) can semiglide to the target with the warhead up on it. Diffrent stages machine. Combination of a missile that's carring a stealth airplain shapped vehicle that can subsonicly glide to the target after the sepperation. Thank you for asking, I just found the solution''.

reply to post by srsairbags


Stealth ICBMs are forbidden by treaty.