Who'd trust the Navy with Lascannons...?

[Denzark]

Fish-heads, Lascannons - 'Nuff said methinks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13033437

[Drew da Destroya]

I like that it's called a HELgun... it's clearly AP3.

I wonder if that was a single "shot", or a sustained "beam" that set the engines alight. A single shot would be pretty useful, but if you have to hold a beam on there, it'd be pretty tough to target.

[Grailkeeper]

Looks to me like a low powered meltagun

[scadugenga]

I like that it's called a HELgun... it's clearly AP3.

I wonder if that was a single "shot", or a sustained "beam" that set the engines alight. A single shot would be pretty useful, but if you have to hold a beam on there, it'd be pretty tough to target.

I would guess a sustained beam.

But that's just guessing.

[Skragger]

Soon we'll see the senate erupt into debate over the pronunciation of "las"

[Necron2.0]

Hmm.

The US Army has already deployed a lasgun (see timestamp 3:16):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxcwlJ30uAw

Of course, they say it's just to explode ordinance, but I question that. I've worked on military projects. You don't need so sophisticated a targetting system for targets that cannot move. The video indicates it takes 3 seconds to burn through an artillery casing. Wonder how long it takes to boil a man's brain? With a sophisticated targetting system and high-speed servos for rapid target acquisition, how many targets could it neutralize in a second?

[Denzark]

Mr Necron2.0. I'm not sure what projects you have worked on to give you such insights. Maybe you have some sort of uber-magenta level clearance.

But I'm not 100% sure that the DoD, having given a supposed cover story for a piece of kit, would want it's contractors denying that on a public geekery forum no matter how unlikely!

It may actually be capable of melting the minds of the cockroach inside Kim Jong-Il and President I'madinnerjacket of Iran in one fell swoop from inside the oval office but if they say ordnance disposal, ordnance disposal it clearly must be;)

[DarkLink]

Hmm.

The US Army has already deployed a lasgun (see timestamp 3:16):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxcwlJ30uAw

Of course, they say it's just to explode ordinance, but I question that. I've worked on military projects. You don't need so sophisticated a targetting system for targets that cannot move. The video indicates it takes 3 seconds to burn through an artillery casing. Wonder how long it takes to boil a man's brain? With a sophisticated targetting system and high-speed servos for rapid target acquisition, how many targets could it neutralize in a second?

It takes a lot of enegy to create a laser strong enough to kill a person. It's like using a tank to shoot one guy. That's a lot of work when you can just put a bullet in their head, though it would work in a pinch. Shooting down missiles and the like, though, requires things tha only laser and advanced targeting systems provide.

The technology to have an AI target human beings doesn't exist to the best of my knowlege. It's too difficult for computers to recognize something as mundane as a person and automatically target them, and even if they could do it then you have to create some sort of IFF system which is even harder to do. Small, metallic, fast moving objects like missiles or rockets, however, are much easier to pick out.

Here's the airborne version, btw:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

[Connjurus]

It takes a lot of enegy to create a laser strong enough to kill a person. It's like using a tank to shoot one guy. That's a lot of work when you can just put a bullet in their head, though it would work in a pinch. Shooting down missiles and the like, though, requires things tha only laser and advanced targeting systems provide.

The technology to have an AI target human beings doesn't exist to the best of my knowlege. It's too difficult for computers to recognize something as mundane as a person and automatically target them, and even if they could do it then you have to create some sort of IFF system which is even harder to do. Small, metallic, fast moving objects like missiles or rockets, however, are much easier to pick out.

Here's the airborne version, btw:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

Two things:

1 - The LASER the United States Navy is producing and plans on fielding in 2020 will be capable of burning through ~ 2,000 feet of steel. Per second.

2 - If an Xbox 360 Kinect can see an entire room, and pick out what are people, and what aren't, well, I'm pretty sure a far more advanced system could be created for a military.

[Skragger]

Two things:

1 - The LASER the United States Navy is producing and plans on fielding in 2020 will be capable of burning through ~ 2,000 feet of steel. Per second.

2 - If an Xbox 360 Kinect can see an entire room, and pick out what are people, and what aren't, well, I'm pretty sure a far more advanced system could be created for a military.

And someone will find a way to combine them! And the Lasect will conquer the world!

[DadExtraordinaire]

Fish-heads, Lascannons - 'Nuff said methinks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13033437

As an answer to your title: I would rather trust the US Navy than a bunch of W40K players any day, as they will all be too busy arguing on spam rules and interpretations of what is not actually written down, how and when a Lascannon should fire at which target, oh and they rarely have common sense.......nuff said!

[DarkLink]

Two things:

1 - The LASER the United States Navy is producing and plans on fielding in 2020 will be capable of burning through ~ 2,000 feet of steel. Per second.

Yeah, and it requires a ship to power it. The laser in the boeing YAL-1 has six module components, each weighing about 6500lbs. An M16 weight 8lbs.

I'm not saying that lasers aren't powerful. I'm saying that they're impractical if you're going to be shooting mere humans with them. Guns do that really well already. What lasers can do that guns can't is shoot down missiles.

Incidentally, that humvee mentioned above? Here's an article from a group of military reporters: http://defensetech.org/2009/11/19/zapping-drones-from-a-truck/. The laser is intended for shooting down drones and similar flying objects.



2 - If an Xbox 360 Kinect can see an entire room, and pick out what are people, and what aren't, well, I'm pretty sure a far more advanced system could be created for a military.

To create a system accurate enough to prevent civilian casualties, identify friendly targets and enemy targets quickly? If the technology was advanced enough for front line use it would be incredibly valuable. I guarantee that Reapers and Predators would already be using the technology to target insurgents, but they aren't. They still require a human operator, because the technology does not exist yet that can follow the rules of engagement and accurately identify friend/foes.

Facial recognition technology is a start. But it's not even close to being suitable for the demands that would be placed on an automated turret in the field. The Kinect is a parlor trick compared to what would be demanded of the sort of targeting system we're talking about here.

[Denzark]

As an answer to your title: I would rather trust the US Navy than a bunch of W40K players any day, as they will all be too busy arguing on spam rules and interpretations of what is not actually written down, how and when a Lascannon should fire at which target, oh and they rarely have common sense.......nuff said!

So would I, insomuch as I trust any man that wants to get on board a big grey floating brothel with 200 other sex-starved deviants before bobbing round the oggin for 6 months at a time.

[eldargal]

True, at least they have stamped out the cannibalism though. More or less.;)


So would I, insomuch as I trust any man that wants to get on board a big grey floating brothel with 200 other sex-starved deviants before bobbing round the oggin for 6 months at a time.

[Necron2.0]

But I'm not 100% sure that the DoD, having given a supposed cover story for a piece of kit, would want it's contractors denying that on a public geekery forum no matter how unlikely!

I've worked on military or militarized projects for about 14 years now, and I've never had any security clearance. Truth be told, for most projects you don't need one. Most of what I've worked on recently has been in the DoD's Small Business Innovation Research program. Roughly once a quarter the military comes up with a bunch of ideas they'd like small tech businesses to put their minds too. Some of it is some pretty strange stuff, like uses for micro fuel cells that draw energy from human blood (http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/14/biological-fuel-cell-runs-on-blood), or using flex display technology (http://gesterling.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/new-reader-the-future-of-newspapers) to create practical invisibility screens, or even juggling robots (yes, the military wanted someone to research creating a robot that could juggle).

Now, I'm not saying I have inside knowledge that the Zeus absolutely will be used in an anti-personel role. I just know that control systems like the one they have on the Zeus are usually designed to hit moving targets. I also know how the military loves to play word games. I mentioned juggling robots. Consider the juggling being done in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUntwGCG7k

Now, consider what those jugglers would be doing when not juggling. ;)


I'm not saying that lasers aren't powerful. I'm saying that they're impractical if you're going to be shooting mere humans with them. Guns do that really well already.

What lasers give you that a gun lacks is pin-point accuracy, speed and control. You can have 10 guys with automatic weapons trying to take out one sniper in a building and chances are they'll empty clip after clip and not hit anything. You have one laser system with an infrared sensor, you designate a target area and program the laser to fire on any appropriate heat signature that presents itself. When the sniper pops up his head to take a shot, the laser burns it off. Problem solved.


If the technology was advanced enough for front line use it would be incredibly valuable. I guarantee that Reapers and Predators would already be using the technology to target insurgents, but they aren't.

If it were to go onto anything, it'd probably be something like a Global Hawk. Like you said, I don't think the Predator is big enough to house an effective laser. Alternately, they might put the system on an AC-130. That'd make attacks like the following far more precise (warning: extreme, REAL violence ... which is why it requires age verification):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-gMMQTt5-c




[EDIT: added technology links]