U.S. Military Power makes WWIII unrealistic.

Originally posted by Vulcha
reply to post by SplitInfinity

 

If you read my post, you'll have seen that I asked this question: What if another country manufactured the same material that is used in the satellites to reflect the beam? Not standard reflectors. The same reflectors as used in the satallites that reflect the beam. If another country managed to create said material, and used it to armor missiles, aircraft, ships, etc, surely that would make the FEL redundant?

GOOD QUESTION! And here is the answer...two things...the U.S. is Multiple Decades in advancement as far as anything pertaining to a Functional FEL as Russian attempts have all failed and they are back to planning states.

Also...who ever gets a system up and running first will be able to target any such attempts to launch such a Satellite System into High Orbit as the Material used is detectable. Split Infinity

reply to post by techwolf

The upgraded SM-3 use a New form of extremely Powerful Long Burn Solid Rocket Fuel which has increases the Original SM-3's range, speed and with a Network of Super Computers for Target and Acquisition...we have one hell of an ABM.

There is a video of a New SM-3 destroying a U.S. Satellite with a Full Tank of Toxic Hydrazine Booster Fuel on the web.

As for the Reflection Satellites...it does not use Optics in the conventional sense. It is more like Multiple and Movable Prism like Insect Compound Eyes...very advanced...very difficult to make and at a level of tech multiple decades in advance of any other Country. Split Infinity

reply to post by SplitInfinity


While the US is rather more advanced than say, Russia, in times of war thing tend to be developed rather quickly. If another country successfully replicated the prisms used to reflect the FEL off the satalite, it doesn't matter if it's detectable or not. The beam would just bounce off it. The same would go if it was used to armour aircraft or ships. I fail to see how it could defeat armour made from the same material that reflects it without damage.

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
Now with the FEL LASER...you have a Beam of Photons carrying with it Super Excited Electrons in a Free Radical State. Since the FEL BEAM is comprised completely of QUANTUM PARTICLES...weird things start to happen at such a beams contact at Solar Core Temps. and bombardment of Uranium or Plutonium with all these Photons and Electrons.

The Changes that occur in Uranium and Plutonium do not necessarily change the element but rather DEPLETE THE ELEMENT and as a byproduct...hydrogen and helium atoms seem to be created. This can only seem to be a process of Neutron Decay and some Quantum Creation of a Proton since both Protons and Neutrons are comprised completely of QUANTUM PARTICLES such as various forms of Quarks, Gluons, Leptons, Mesons, Bosons...etc.

The Beam only obtains Solar Core Temps. if using a very Powerful supposedly secret Micro-Fusion Generator. The current Ford Class Carriers...the USS. Gerald R. Ford...CVN-78 and the USS. J.F.K....CVN-79...are supposedly set to use two new A1B Nuclear Fission Reactors. Questions have come up and there is a possibility that either two Newer more powerful Reactors will take their place or there will be the use of 2 A1B reactors plus a third Micro-Fusion Generator which has been rumored to have an output equal to 7 A1B Reactors. In this case...the FEL will obtain BEYOND Solar Core Temps. and at these temps...actual changing of Uranium and Plutonium into smaller base Atoms is possible...either that or it will create a massive Fusion Detonation that will take half of Earths Atmosphere with it! LOL! What a Life!

To the best of my knowledge, what you're describing isn't a FEL. First off, free radicals are just unstable atoms that don't have complimentary electrons spinning in their outermost shells. An electron doesn't have a shell or anything to balance. And everything is made up "completely" of quantum particles, I'm not sure if I follow beyond that with the Uranium becoming depleted, could you clear that up? As far as I know, FELs are "simply" the utilization of a field which induces electrons to oscillate in such a way as to create synchrotron radiation, which means it releases photons, IE, the laser. The only things that are really remarkable about FEL as compared to more "mundane" lasers are their greater range of tunability and the relative inexpense of creating them-- with gas or solid-state lasers, for instance, you'd need the actual gas you wanted to propagate the laser through and so it doesn't work so well as a weapon.

As for the Reflection Satellites...it does not use Optics in the conventional sense. It is more like Multiple and Movable Prism like Insect Compound Eyes...very advanced...very difficult to make and at a level of tech multiple decades in advance of any other Country. Split Infinity

I understand you may not be able to explain this because of restrictions placed on you by the government (I presume you are/were in the military or with a contractor like Raytheon to know about all this), but I really can't grasp what material would be so difficult to fabricate by first world nations. I grant that equipping standard operating vehicles with movable prisms is probably hard as hell, but major strategic bases would be easy to protect if all you need to do is layer prisms and adjust depending on the tuned wavelength of the incoming laser. I also meant to ask you, what about the bottleneck of the electron excitation? Sure, a nuclear reactor can potentially supply the wiggler and other parts of an FEL with infinite power, but to fire a megawatt beam you'd need to build up a lot of electrons and have them all oscillating for an extended period of time.

Honestly, I really can't see what you've described here as being an optical weapon of any kind. Closest thing I can think of is an electrolaser, or maybe a rudimentary Bessel beam weapon (if we're getting really crazy, lol). Without the ability to reflect the beam, I would think you were describing a particle beam weapon. Either way, the material and knowledge needed for creating most super weapons is readily available to all nations, it's simply a question of whether they will invest the money in creating them. For now, the US has been the only nation that spends heavily on weaponry and other war departments and its allies don't need to pay because they are allied with them. If the NATO had a falling out, you could bet other nations would quickly catch up to the advancements made by the US, if only because they wouldn't have to invest as much to reverse engineer tech the US has developed. Beyond that, I have a lot of faith in our Intelligence communities, but I have serious doubts that we have seen everything from opposing, much less friendly, nations. WWIII is still possible (though not very probable).

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by techwolf

 

The upgraded SM-3 use a New form of extremely Powerful Long Burn Solid Rocket Fuel which has increases the Original SM-3's range, speed and with a Network of Super Computers for Target and Acquisition...we have one hell of an ABM.

There is a video of a New SM-3 destroying a U.S. Satellite with a Full Tank of Toxic Hydrazine Booster Fuel on the web.

As for the Reflection Satellites...it does not use Optics in the conventional sense. It is more like Multiple and Movable Prism like Insect Compound Eyes...very advanced...very difficult to make and at a level of tech multiple decades in advance of any other Country. Split Infinity

Split, this prism you're talking about. The concept is fairly simple. I would dare wager that I could actually design one in a night's time to do what you're talking about. The only thing I'd need from you is light wavelength and a decent software package. I could be wrong, I'm not a person dealing in absolutes, but I can at least assure you that if this "mirror" array does exist, it's not actually what's going to take an enemy nation the longest to replicate with these laser systems.

As a side issue, if the other poster here in this thread is still interested, the laser can indeed be made inert. And yes, it has to do with a coating, yes, it's been researched already for other innocuous reasons (some medical), and yes again, as long as you have enough information about the laser that's being fired upon you, it CAN be made harmless.

Interestingly enough, the same tech ("similar" pattern) behind increasing the laser's focus/resolution can be used in the opposite manner as well. There's only one little issue. The nano-coating is expensive, and you have only two choices, make an aircraft that's laser-proof (but shines like a new penny), or one that's harder to detect (visibly as well. and no, I'm not talking about "cloaking" although that would work too, in theory), soaking up reflection. The pattern's size must directly correlate with which laser you are trying to reflect, as well as it's wavelength. Work out the tactical values with that knowledge on your own though. Also, if you're interested in doing a little digging, I believe we have Andreas Br****r (nvm, name deleted) to thank just a tad for how these systems have evolved. I don't think I actually like the guy, he's a bit arrogant.

***added*** (for those thinking about simple mirrors)

Any spec of dust, salt, oil, blemish, etc on a mirror (IE any time a mirror is outside of a sterile lab room) Would be a hole through which the laser could burn through the mirror. The amount of power used is such that this would be near instantaneous. So reflective missiles, aside from being more expensive, more maintenance intensive, and absolutely easier to track, would only achieve very very minor gains in resistance to the envisioned laser from a reflective coating.

As for some comment I can't recall who made a page or two ago about nuclear materials being harmlessly vaporized or whatnot... I just don't know how to respond. Maybe I didn't read it right.. it's fine but, it's vital to understand that a large number of the "super" lasers we are testing actually work in the first place by us creating controlled implosions fusing together (not taking apart, or into vapor, or what I can't recall what it was that was said before) little pellets of tritium and deuterium. That resulting fusion is what's creating all that energy and heat being used in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) labs all over the world. Well, in a few countries. My point being, the laser doesn't render the material useless by any means.

reply to post by Vulcha

When the FEL was First Tested using standard Laser Mirrors...and this was not even a Nuclear Powered FEL...it VAPORIZED THE MIRROR. This is because the FEL...FREE ELECTRON LASER...works more like a PARTICLE BEAM than a Laser.

The Multi-Compound Prism Reflection Satellite System must be in perfect alignment for the FEL not to damage it as well. This is done by Networked Super Computers...a TECH...that the U.S. Military and their Civilian Development Groups are Multiple Decades in advancement of ANYONE...and this includes Japan and Germany, Russia and China.

The U.S. Military has Covert Programs which are at such a High Level of Funding that it is BEYOND BELIEF! If anyone thinks for even a second that the UNITED STATES...the Worlds Largest Economy...Most Lethal Military...and only TRUE SUPERPOWER is at ANY disadvantage in the ART OF WAR...they are kidding themselves.

What is known...and what is SECRET...is like the Distance between STARS.
Split Infinity

reply to post by SoulVisions

The FEL as it is intended to be used would be very hard to be reflected by any Nano-Coating as the Alignment of the Prism Like Multi-Compound FEL Reflectors must be aligned by a group of NETWORKED SUPER COMPUTERS. If it is off by even the smallest degree...the FEL Beam would Vaporize the Prisms.

As for Vaporizing Nuclear Material...I should have been more specific. If the Ford Class Carriers are to use 2 A1B Fission Reactors and one Micro-Fusion Reactor as this reactors output is roughly 7 Times that of one A1B Reactor...the FEL Beam will obtain Temps. that are greater than Solar Core Temps.

At those Temps...Plutonium and Uranium become Depleted and supposedly there is some form of Quantum Creation of a Proton which some how is connected to the materials Neutrons in forced decay that become Helium and some without Neutron existing as H2. Split Infinity

reply to post by techwolf

TW...you are right about one thing for certain. The FEL works more like a Particle Beam than a Laser. The Russians concentrated their Direct Energy Weapons in the Particle Beam Arena. The problem was that Particle Beams have a nasty habit of irradiating the people who are using them. The Soviets decided to concentrate on Particle Beams rather than Lasers because of the then thought that any Laser would be subject to Atmospheric Reflection and Distortion...so they went full steam creating Particle Beam Weapons and Succeeded!

After KILLING a WHOLE BUNCH of Scientists who were not properly shielded from the Soviet Particle Beam Weapon...they decided that a Particle Beam was too dangerous to be used in a Mobile Platform so close to any crew operating it.

The U.S. has been working with Lasers for Multiple Decades and what the Public sees such as DARPA 747's with a Solid State Laser mounted on the planes nose as well as two or three other Lasers needed for targeting and compensating for atmospheric distortion...is just what it seems to be...PUBLIC SHOWCASES FOR LOW TECH. WEAPONS. REAL U.S. Programs in advanced Weaponry are kept at a Ultra-Top Secret Level and a standing U.S. President is on a NEED TO KNOW clearance level.

When I saw a Non-Nuclear FEL on the NEWS targeting a small rocking boat at sea a while back...I ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR! I NEVER thought that they would even suggest that we had this Tech. Then I found out the reason why. China was VERY CLOSE to launching an ALL OUT INVASION OF TAIWAN! The Chinese Communist Regime had thought...wrongly...that a combination of the U.S. Military being involved in TWO WARS...a stagnant U.S. Economy...Chinese Loans in the Multiple Billions given to the U.S....as well as a General LACK OF UNDERSTANDING by the Communist Chinese Government of true U.S. Military Capability...had brought the Chinese Communist Regime to the conclusion that the time was ripe to take Taiwan.

The U.S. Military War Planners then did something BRILLIANT! They invited a Large Contingent of High Ranking Chinese Military Leadership to attend U.S. War Games that were taking place out of Norfolk. The Chinese were then taken to MANY bases across the U.S. and then at a specific time...WERE TOLD AND ALLOWED TO WITNESS A DEMONSTRATION OF BOTH THE FEL AND MEB DIRECT ENERGY WEAPONS that the U.S. had major breakthroughs in over a short time. The Chinese Military Leadership was placed in a STATE OF SHOCK!

It at that moment became apparent that China's Carrier Killer Missile was OBSOLETE! It also made an attending Chinese Admiral make a statement to the WORLD MEDIA where he said...The U.S. has nothing to fear Militarily from China as we Chinese are Multiple Decades Behind the U.S. Military in both Tech. and Training. He knew that any Chinese attempt to Invade Taiwan would not succeed. The U.S. Navy would OBLITERATE any Chinese Invasion Force that would attempt to cross the small ocean distance between China and Taiwan. His statements made the Communist Regime so angry that he was almost JAILED and would have been if not for the rest of the Chinese Military Contingent stating he was not making up what he saw. His own Government DID NOT BELIEVE HIM!

The U.S. Military's Plan WORKED! There is no greater danger than a possible adversary DRASTICALLY UNDERESTIMATING ANOTHER possible adversaries Military Capability. In a single stroke...China changed it's mind on the planned size of their to be Massive New Navy as well as any thought of Invading Taiwan! If you notice...China say's VERY LITTLE about Taiwan these day's and has agreed with the U.S. that North Korea...and this is Chinese Diplomats actual words...IS ACTING LIKE A SPOILED BRAT! China recently made FOOLS OF THEMSELVES as a Communist Civilian Leader of their Military ordered a large contingent of Chinese Ships to harass a Japanese Island that OIL has been discovered around off shore. This large fleet of Chinese Ships traveled near the Island and basically was ORDERED HOME! Another Chinese Navy Leader stated that since the U.S. Navy never even paid attention or made any real statement about the Chinese Naval action...that the Chinese Military made itself look FOOLISH as it was like asking a person to step outside a Bar to FIGHT and then when both were outside...the Guy that asked the other to step outside just went home.

I can only talk about things that have already appeared in the Media or at the very least in the Public's Consciousness. I am not a Weapons Designer and do not have all the answers...but I can tell you that the U.S. Military is very near a point of OVERT CAPABILITIES that will be displayed for all to see that are at such a High Level of Tech. that it BOGGLES THE MIND! It will actually create a Fierce Fight in the U.S. Congress as the entire U.S. Military will be restructured. S.I.

reply to post by SplitInfinity


You have over 4k posts and you still dont know that we are in world war three. Think about it we have more countries involved in the global war on terror than any other war. The only continent that is not fully in it is africa, and what are they going to do, throw spears at F16's and black hawks. haha. Makes me laugh when someone thinks that we are not yet in world war 3.

Ha. My sisters fiance just got grazed by a bullet in lybia sometime in the past month. Not world war three.

reply to post by ringlejames

I have news for you...if that is your criteria for WWIII then we have been in a WORLD WAR since the beginning of recorded HISTORY! What you speak of has always been...Country vs. Country...Tribe vs. Tribe at WAR.

If there ever was a real all out WAR that involved the Direct Security of the U.S. Mainland...YOU WOULD NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE! The U.S. Military has weapons in the WAR CHEST that are of LAST USE ONLY CLASSIFICATION and make a standard Thermonuclear Weapon look like a Firecracker.

Split Infinity

Flag from me for sure.

It is nice reading a thread made with a pro America stance.

I really enjoyed reading it, and I read it all so far, keep up the good work.

I am known to post here that these apocalyptic doom and gloomers do not have a clue as to what our government is capable of. I personally believe that "they" will not even let the economy crash. I believe that there are plans to make something happen to rally Americans and pull us all together for the greater good.

People are too caught up in Hollywood to realize that there is a reason we are still kicking and why we have the largest military budget.

I love reading your posts.

Do people honestly believe that tptb will allow us to go "bankrupt"? Time to wake up folks.

reply to post by liejunkie01


Totally.

Ive been reading this thread also.

Great points from OP.

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by SoulVisions

 

The FEL as it is intended to be used would be very hard to be reflected by any Nano-Coating as the Alignment of the Prism Like Multi-Compound FEL Reflectors must be aligned by a group of NETWORKED SUPER COMPUTERS. If it is off by even the smallest degree...the FEL Beam would Vaporize the Prisms.

You placed two very different thoughts I had addressed together, somehow. I mentioned that the reflector array could be reproduced fairly easily, super computer or no. Any laser, at any power level may be made harmless. The nano-coating I'm referring to and have the outlines for even at my home, looks like inverted "moth" eyes. (please look up how this specifically deals with light, for any interested) When this same pattern is inverted, it will absorb light. Bad for lasers, great for nighttime stealth flights. No reflection at all.

The typical "bug-eye lens" actually affects laser focus and resolution (as I stated previously). However, and I'm repeating myself just for clarity this time around, it (moth) can be used to reflect light with no loss of "power". I know you're in the other forum topic I usually lurk around so I trust you understand why I might understand these things.

To tip my hat graciously, however, you're right in the aspect that if the laser is powerful enough, no amount of reflection would matter if the heat accumulated too much. Even if the nano-coating was specifically tuned to that laser's wavelength. I have a solution for that also, but I'm not going to stray into the super-cooling lasers and conductive materials discussion right now. That'd be a debate all over the place.

Suffice it to say that anything a man can create, another man may undo.
This includes the beginning of war.

reply to post by SplitInfinity

I can see the Chinese being intimidated by the US military, but I still don't think that the rest of the world would have a problem replicating any advanced technology the US has currently. Going by your description of events, I wouldn't be surprised if US military leaders exaggerated their weapons' capabilities and obfuscated on the underlying principles behind these weapons so as to appear even more dangerous than they really are. I mean, the Chinese military couldn't very well confirm that an FEL beam was redirected via a satellite for the demonstration (or, at least, they couldn't confirm that the energy transferred from said redirected beam is what destroyed the test object). If the US truly had an FEL that needed no time to recharge and which could be redirected endlessly via satellites that are incapable of being brought down and having their coating replicated then the use of drones to combat terror suspects abroad is a serious strategic mistake. Why waste time on less precise methods when you can surreptitiously kill with far greater accuracy (and no trace to the US-- imagine how crazy someone would sound saying the US killed their family member who just happened to explode right in front of them with no warning, lol).

But of course, the major difficulty I have with this discussion is that it doesn't account for enemy (and current ally) state secrets. The types of weapons we are discussing are certainly high tech and difficult to imagine actually existing, but the actual science behind them is almost pedestrian for advanced engineers, chemists and physicists. The actual principles behind FELs have been widely known about in the scientific community since 1976! Sure there's a serious delay between making something theoretical into something practical, but we've seen practical applications of this technology other places in the world (Helmholtz Association's DESY, for example). Even if we were to believe that no other nation has come up with the idea of creating a network of satellites and attaching a nuclear reactor to an FEL as a power source, they've almost certainly come up with parallel advancements.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... Nothing here sounds all that impossible to counteract or duplicate. Now if you told me the US has a gravitational weapon that can compress objects down to their Schwarzschild radius and form black holes, or that it has the ability to affordably produce tons of antimatter, then I'd agree it was decades ahead of any other nation and WWIII better not start because the US would just blow Europe and Asia apart and call it a day, LOL!

But I do agree China won't start world war with the US, but in a scenario where multiple nations were already in conflict, I would wager China would have no problem jumping in against the US, even knowing about how much more advanced its tech is (simply because they'd have the buffer of other nations). IF we ever got to WWIII, which is less likely due to a more global economy and less to gain from international conflict.

reply to post by techwolf


That was the point I was trying to make. Didn't want to go into how it was possible but on these forums it's almost always necessary. Still waiting for that knock on the door... j/k

There's one major aspect to all of this that has not been discussed, or even brought up at this point, and that's the matter of "combat proven/readiness."

The United States has been "at war" nearly every single year since it's early colonial days. That's only about 13 years or so in the nation's entire history that we have not been fighting in one form or another. It is our largest commodity and we're very, very good at what we do. The point here is that every weapon that meets the public's eye has already been tested in the labs and on the field, with individuals whose job it is to find it's (the weapon's) weak points. When I say on the field, I mean years on the field in real combat situations. This is where other nations may not catch up for some time.

While other nations scramble to try to find ways (expensive ways) to counter or reverse-engineer one thing, we're already working on another. By the time they catch up (like Russia's goal to have a Mach 5 jet in the next decade), we've already left that "old" technology far behind. Intelligence is where it's at when it comes to knowing what to work on next, a lot of times. What is released on the news is already years behind in 'most' cases unless it's being used as a war-deterrent.

When the war machine cranks up into top gear in a World War scenario, a lot will come out of the wood works, and with the monetary backing that that would then bring, innovations would come at a steady rate.

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by techwolf

 

When I saw a Non-Nuclear FEL on the NEWS targeting a small rocking boat at sea a while back...I ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR! I NEVER thought that they would even suggest that we had this Tech. Then I found out the reason why. China was VERY CLOSE to launching an ALL OUT INVASION OF TAIWAN! The Chinese Communist Regime had thought...wrongly...that a combination of the U.S. Military being involved in TWO WARS...a stagnant U.S. Economy...Chinese Loans in the Multiple Billions given to the U.S....as well as a General LACK OF UNDERSTANDING by the Communist Chinese Government of true U.S. Military Capability...had brought the Chinese Communist Regime to the conclusion that the time was ripe to take Taiwan.

I was kinda, meh.

The U.S. Military War Planners then did something BRILLIANT! They invited a Large Contingent of High Ranking Chinese Military Leadership to attend U.S. War Games that were taking place out of Norfolk. The Chinese were then taken to MANY bases across the U.S. and then at a specific time...WERE TOLD AND ALLOWED TO WITNESS A DEMONSTRATION OF BOTH THE FEL AND MEB DIRECT ENERGY WEAPONS that the U.S. had major breakthroughs in over a short time. The Chinese Military Leadership was placed in a STATE OF SHOCK!

I wasn't aware of this. I'm not doubting you, I just would enjoy seeing some links.

reply to post by SoulVisions

I am not trying to deal in ABSOLUTES but it would be very hard to counter this form of Laser as just as you replied...Above Solar Core Temps. would vaporize just about anything and the ability to be able to anticipate or detect an FEL Beam Strike would be almost Impossible. Since the incoming Laser Beam is moving at 186,300 Miles Per Second...that does not give even the Fastest of Computers or the impossibility to Mechanically Align any possible Reflective Defense in the angle necessary to reflect the beam.

As far as other ways to render the Laser inert...sure...anythings possible but in this case...VERY IMPROBABLE.
You do at least have valid points and for that I am glad. Split Infinity

reply to post by techwolf

TW...google...Free Electron Laser use on CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford...as well as CVN-79 John F. Kennedy. Also google Ford Class Nuclear Reactors A1B.

This is all VERY REAL. CVN-78 will be at sea in 2015...CVN-79 will be in 2020. ALL Nimitz Class as well as all Aegis Cruisers will have Nuclear Powered FEL's installed.

The only issue is what Reactors they will use. It will either be two A1B's...or two Newer Reactors designs that are more powerful or TWO A1B's with a single Micro-Fusion Reactor that is supposedly 7 times more powerful than a single A1B....as well as being MUCH SMALLER.

The Last Possibility would make many people VERY PISSED OFF...as the fact that we are in an Energy Crunch and our Military has Micro-Fusion Tech. that WORKS! LOVE to see that! LOL! Split Infinity

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by SoulVisions

 

I am not trying to deal in ABSOLUTES but it would be very hard to counter this form of Laser as just as you replied...Above Solar Core Temps. would vaporize just about anything and the ability to be able to anticipate or detect an FEL Beam Strike would be almost Impossible. Since the incoming Laser Beam is moving at 186,300 Miles Per Second...that does not give even the Fastest of Computers or the impossibility to Mechanically Align any possible Reflective Defense in the angle necessary to reflect the beam.

As far as other ways to render the Laser inert...sure...anythings possible but in this case...VERY IMPROBABLE.
You do at least have valid points and for that I am glad. Split Infinity

Well, the heat the beam achieves is different than the heat it transfers to its target. Of course, any laser that is being weaponized would be able to burn through current alloys, like steel, in seconds, but the size of the laser and length of time it outputs maximum heat is important to think about too. I mean, there's an X-ray laser that can heat objects to 2 million degrees Celsius, but it only gets this hot for a trillionth of a second and the beam is like, a micron in size.

As for countermeasures, I could imagine using more rudimentary lasers to keep and eye on any satellites an FEL could be reflected off of, and then armor equipped with the same reflective material would be tuned to the same wavelength as these satellites. It could get tricky if there are multiple satellites to keep track of, but the tunability of the laser would be restricted based on the mechanical limits in the satellites, too. This entire process could be further simplified if we assumed enemy nations could get real time aerial intelligence on the ship equipped with the weapon and the FEL itself, because they could follow the aim of FEL and predict which satellites it will use to redirect the actual beam and program any mechanisms to keep in lockstep with this satellite.

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by techwolf

 

TW...google...Free Electron Laser use on CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford...as well as CVN-79 John F. Kennedy. Also google Ford Class Nuclear Reactors A1B.

This is all VERY REAL. CVN-78 will be at sea in 2015...CVN-79 will be in 2020. ALL Nimitz Class as well as all Aegis Cruisers will have Nuclear Powered FEL's installed.

The only issue is what Reactors they will use. It will either be two A1B's...or two Newer Reactors designs that are more powerful or TWO A1B's with a single Micro-Fusion Reactor that is supposedly 7 times more powerful than a single A1B....as well as being MUCH SMALLER.

The Last Possibility would make many people VERY PISSED OFF...as the fact that we are in an Energy Crunch and our Military has Micro-Fusion Tech. that WORKS! LOVE to see that! LOL! Split Infinity

Oh, I know FEL technology exists, and probably pretty close to how you're saying it does, but it's a long way from this:


to networked satellites capable of redirecting superhot laser beams that can be fired seemingly endlessly. We have confirmation of the "superhot laser beam" part, but this is tech that other nations have readily available (though not yet militarized, but this is due to lack of necessity rather than lack of ingenuity), and technically we can fire a beam almost without limit, but there are drawbacks in power output. I haven't seen anything on redirecting via satellite (there was an experiment about redirecting lasers in orbit from satellite to satellite back in the Cold War, but that's radically different than what you're talking about, and it was still too expensive to deal with).

Like I said earlier, if there were really a weapon that could do everything you said, and which was so advanced that no other nation could replicate it for 30 years+, then there would be essentially no reason to use drones or ground troops at all right now. Have the FEL rain death upon enemies of the State and leave the world to wonder if it's divine punishment (or the US could take credit and make every other nation roll over). At least that's the way I see it, I could very well be wrong, but I don't think anyone has really actually addressed this point yet.

reply to post by techwolf


Your link didn't work, but I can only imagine it was a video clip of the death star from the Star Wars franchise. If so, you might like to have a look at the thin disk laser's system.

In each laser firing at Boeing's facility in West Hills, Calif., the high-energy laser achieved power levels of over 25 kilowatts for multi-second durations, with a measured beam quality suitable for a tactical weapon system. The Boeing laser integrates multiple thin-disk lasers into a single system. Through these successful tests, the Boeing team has proven the concept of scalability to a 100-kilowatt-class system based on the same architecture and technology.

Pew pew.

Boeing Link here

Boeing is so funny. They come off as an aircraft plant, but that's so far from the unspoken truth. Same with Lockheed too, in a way. Space-tech is their nice branch.

Edit:
I didn't see the second half of your post, sorry. We will always have a need for drones. When the satellites are all shot down, and our manpower is depleted, what will we be left with? Nothing but our autonomous drones. Especially those that as of the last drone convention showed us, are capable of flying around without any kind of space GPS navigational system. They simply "know" where they are in the world at all times.

The world is a scary place, and it's up to the people that we ourselves have elected to look out for our needs. Even those that we aren't fully aware we do need, at many times. Until hatred is wiped clean from the earth, there will always be a place for war, and unless subjugation is not minded, methods of self-defense.