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Thread: Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at Farnborough Airshow

  1. #11
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    But can it pop balloons??? That's what we really want to see...

    Mark

  2. #12
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    - this thing is soooo powerful I'll bet it pops a weather balloon

    - shining it at UAVs - should be carefull not to blind the autopilot (haha)

    Did you know that at the modern battlefield lasers should be eye-safe(!) unless you intend to kill someone.
    Thus the rangefinder should be eyesafe but the laser designator guiding the missile doesn't have to be.
    Some mil. trade guy explained me that - not sure how true this is though.

  3. #13
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    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by absolom7691 View Post
    The THEL uses Deuterium Flouride. Is this an excimer?
    The article I read listed it as a 32 KW solid state laser with 6 separate lasing elements.

    Edit: Link (And thanks to Mikkojay for originally posting it here in this thread.)

    Adam

  4. #14
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    But can you cut electrical tape with it? Any chance of seeing this on Wicked?
    If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zoof View Post
    Did you know that at the modern battlefield lasers should be eye-safe(!) unless you intend to kill someone.
    Thus the rangefinder should be eyesafe but the laser designator guiding the missile doesn't have to be.
    You are right. We build both where I work.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zoof View Post
    Did you know that at the modern battlefield lasers should be eye-safe(!) unless you intend to kill someone.
    Actually, that's not 100% accurate. The "legality" determination is based on whether the primary function of the laser is to cause blindness or not.

    Lasers that are designed expressly for the purpose of causing blindness are outlawed by the United Nation's Protocol on Blinding Weapons (which was issued back in 1995).

    However, if blindness is an incidental result of the weapon's use, then that is acceptable. Thus, a targeting laser that guides a smart bomb can be bright enough to cause blindness, since causing blindness is not the laser's intended purpose.

    Adam

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