15-03-2011, 09:09 AM
On its Way to Ultradestructive Megawatt Power, Navy's Death Ray Laser Breaks Another Record
13th March 2011
By Rebecca Boyle
Popular Science | February 19, 2011
Photo: Naval Lasing Raytheon's prototype ship-borne laser system has effectively shot down UAVs from the deck of a ship. The Navy wants a more versatile free electron laser weapon to perform a variety of security tasks, including target designation, tracking, andof coursetarget elimination. Photo via Raytheon.
The Navy's death ray weapon keeps burning through laser records, on its way to the ultimate goal of searing through 2,000 feet of steel per second.
The Free Electron Laser's latest milestone involved running its electron injection system for eight hours at 500 kilovolts. That will help the laser become more powerful and more deadly, as Wired's Danger Room reports.
The FEL will be a multiple-wavelength weapon that can be altered to account for all the variables it would encounter at sea, like aerosols and moisture in the air. The laser doesn't use any crystals or inverted prisms or any other materials to focus its light it works like a particle accelerator, moving electrons around a racetrack to speed them up.
To make it more powerful, you would add more electrons, and the electron injector takes care of that. The latest achievement proves that lots and lots of electrons can be injected over a long period of time, meaning it's possible to make the laser much more powerful.
It currently produces a 14-kilowatt beam, and it needs to reach 100 kW to become a viable defense weapon. The ultimate goal is a 1-MW laser.
In December, ONR researchers said they proved their injection system is capable of producing the necessary electrons to fuel a megawatt-class laser beam, and they're months ahead of schedule.
Via Danger Room. This post originally appeared on Popular Science. This post originally appeared on Popular Science.
http://io9.com/#!5765053/on-its-way-to-u...her-record
13th March 2011
By Rebecca Boyle
Popular Science | February 19, 2011
Photo: Naval Lasing Raytheon's prototype ship-borne laser system has effectively shot down UAVs from the deck of a ship. The Navy wants a more versatile free electron laser weapon to perform a variety of security tasks, including target designation, tracking, andof coursetarget elimination. Photo via Raytheon.
The Navy's death ray weapon keeps burning through laser records, on its way to the ultimate goal of searing through 2,000 feet of steel per second.
The Free Electron Laser's latest milestone involved running its electron injection system for eight hours at 500 kilovolts. That will help the laser become more powerful and more deadly, as Wired's Danger Room reports.
The FEL will be a multiple-wavelength weapon that can be altered to account for all the variables it would encounter at sea, like aerosols and moisture in the air. The laser doesn't use any crystals or inverted prisms or any other materials to focus its light it works like a particle accelerator, moving electrons around a racetrack to speed them up.
To make it more powerful, you would add more electrons, and the electron injector takes care of that. The latest achievement proves that lots and lots of electrons can be injected over a long period of time, meaning it's possible to make the laser much more powerful.
It currently produces a 14-kilowatt beam, and it needs to reach 100 kW to become a viable defense weapon. The ultimate goal is a 1-MW laser.
In December, ONR researchers said they proved their injection system is capable of producing the necessary electrons to fuel a megawatt-class laser beam, and they're months ahead of schedule.
Via Danger Room. This post originally appeared on Popular Science. This post originally appeared on Popular Science.
http://io9.com/#!5765053/on-its-way-to-u...her-record
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
