Laser Equipped C-130H Ready For Testing

www.defense-update.com...

Boeing has installed a 12,000 pound high-energy chemical laser module on board a C-130H aircraft, as part of the US Air force Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (CTD) program. The module was moved into place aboard the aircraft and aligned with the previously-installed beam control system, which will direct the laser beam to its target. The aircraft is being prepared to conduct a series of tests leading up to a planned demonstration flight in 2008.

forget xwings and battlestar vipers - sci-fi is here and now


except is moves at 400 knots and has the dogfighting process of an apple pie


but airbourne lasers are taking small steps till one day LOS weapons will all be lasers.


give me LiDAR please

reply to post by Harlequin


Hey figured I should tag along in this thread as well Har Flight global has just posted a pic of the actual C-130 with the pod lowered and shuch.

The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL), including its 12,000lb integrated module was integrated on the aircraft on 4 December. The combined system also was aligned with the beam control system.....
“Next year, we will fire the laser at ground targets, demonstrating the military utility of this transformational directed energy weapon,” Scott Fancher, VP and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, said in a statement.

www.flightglobal.com...

[edit on 22/08/06 by Canada_EH]

Originally posted by Harlequin
except is moves at 400 knots and has the dogfighting process of an apple pie

Who needs to dogfight when you can pop any thing you've got line of sight on - presumably as long as you got exact xyz coordinates the only thing that limits you is available power? or with really powerful ones possibly the curvature of the Earth

Wonder if you can sign your name on stuff with it might has to write something witty on the wings of air force one!

I'm just trying to get my head around what sort of damage it causes? - Like to a building or troops?? Can't get more precise than a laser...no splash damage either

WOW how many of these does the USAF want to build?

Originally posted by Harlequin
except is moves at 400 knots and has the dogfighting process of an apple pie

Find a room with a single, expensive keepsake. Throw an apple pie in the exact opposite direction. I guarantee you it'll maneuver in such a way as to get you in a lot of trouble.

If that fails, stick on some thrust vectoring and streamline it a bit. Even if it ain't useful, it'll sure be more entertaining than most weapons systems.

heres the new RAAF fighters but its top secret

full stealth cant be seen by human radars




But seriously it will be interesting to watch the
developments.

[edit on 17-12-2007 by Jezza]

reply to post by Jezza


I hope you realize x-wings use plasma weapons which are fundamentally very different to "Lasers" *makes air quote marks in accordance with the teachings of Dr. Evil*

But what, exactly, are plasma weapons? For those who are not already aware, plasma is usually described as the fourth state of matter, after solid, liquid, and gas. More technically, it is ionized gas, ie- gas in which the energy level is so high that the electrons will not stay confined in their atomic energy shells so they escape. The Earth's Sun is largely composed of plasma, which can also be described as a hot "soup" of free-floating nuclei and electrons. Therefore, a plasma weapon would logically be something that fires plasma at the target.

So in future Young / Old Man / Woman (*delete as appropriate) please post on topic - your picture would of been more appropriate if it depicted a shark with a frickin laser on it's head!

Peace

Originally posted by Harlequin
battlestar vipers - sci-fi is here and now

Vipers don't use lasers, they use bullets. Damn it, the geek keeps coming out, sorry about that.

C-130's with lasers? Great, even more ways to slaughter the civilian population of some poor country.

Originally posted by Zanzibar

Originally posted by Harlequin
battlestar vipers - sci-fi is here and now

C-130's with lasers? Great, even more ways to slaughter the civilian population of some poor country.

Is that really necessary?

I'm pretty sure its meant to shoot down incoming SAMS and maybe some SRBMS and such.

I doubt it will do any damage to real ground targets, like tanks and bunkers. Even the all mighty ABL can't touch those.

Can anyone confirm that this is the HELLADS project?

Originally posted by BlackWidow23
Is that really necessary?

Probably not, sorry if it offended you.

I just believe that all this money spent on the military is a complete waste, so much more substantial things could be developed. But no, we go ahead and build even more weaponry.

reply to post by BlackWidow23


The point of this tech and demo is to have zero splash damage. Ands it not for SAMs or ICBMs. If you took the time to look into the tech and purpose. I understand why you said it its just pointless.