US Airforce Portable Laser Gun

[asian1]

Will they use it during dogfight or sabotage (CIA)?
What happen if a crazy terrorist steal the new gun?

What happen if the enemy wear eyepatch or special glasses?

"During the Cold War nuclear bomber pilots and the pilots of Air Force One flew with an eyepatch over one eye. In the event of a nearby nuclear explosion they would switch the eyepatch to the other eye."

Is there any plan for developing more powerful, portable laser guns?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10268690/

“Personal Halting and Stimulation Response” (PHaSER)

A hand held laser weapon with the Star Trek moniker “PHaSER,” developed by the Air Force as a non-lethal weapon capable of being used on the battlefield or on the mean streets of any major city. Think more along the lines of Buck Rogers rather than a Star Wars Jedi light saber.  

[Cyberus]

asian1 wrote:
Will they use it during dogfight or sabotage (CIA)?

Dogfight?!?!

Baron Manfred von Richtoven would be shafted, wouldn't he?!!!

Tally ho chaps, look like those blighters have got one of those new-fangled phaser things ,what!

[odin]

asian1 wrote:
What happen if the enemy wear eyepatch or special glasses?

Yar! Better watch out for them peglegged spacepirates after your Cobra Mk. III!

[blobrana]

Hum,
Apart from space pirates and Santa (see NoradSanta.org on Christmas eve)there doesn't seem that much to shoot down nowadays...

So, i guess it’s a defensive weapon...??

[PMC]

It also makes sense as a covert weapon - you could theoretically dazzle the pilot of a plane as they are taking off / landing and unless you were in direct line of sight of the laser, there would be no residual evidence of it's use.

Indeed, Tom Clancy dicusses the use of a similar weapon in his book "Debt of Honor" when it is used to down a Japanese AWACS plane covertly.

It could also be used to deflect a plane on a suicide mission....

[Hyperspeed]

I've seen footage on Sky of large rotating turrets being aimed at radio controlled drone planes and the planes eventually blow up in mid air. I've even seen a giant water-cooling tower explode.

The laser being used doesn't appear as a red beam like in Star Wars, it's invisible and silent - which is kind of creepy!

Also, recently there have been incidences of civilian aircraft and even unidentified airliners having bright laser beams shone into their {bleep}pit windows during flights over Washington. This was initially thought to be rogue civilians but it turns out it's a prototype defence system.

You know, whenever I see 'AWACS' I always seem to think 'ear wax'... maybe I'm ill.

[Hyperspeed]

C0ckpit!

Damn, someone's got a filthy mind. I bet it'll censor shuttlecock, {bleep}erel and {bleep}fighting!

:-)

[Cyberus]

by rights it should also censor 'analogic'

[Karlos]

Hyperspeed wrote:
I've seen footage on Sky of large rotating turrets being aimed at radio controlled drone planes and the planes eventually blow up in mid air. I've even seen a giant water-cooling tower explode.

The laser being used doesn't appear as a red beam like in Star Wars, it's invisible and silent - which is kind of creepy!

Also, recently there have been incidences of civilian aircraft and even unidentified airliners having bright laser beams shone into their {bleep}pit windows during flights over Washington. This was initially thought to be rogue civilians but it turns out it's a prototype defence system.

You know, whenever I see 'AWACS' I always seem to think 'ear wax'... maybe I'm ill.

Probably an IR laser or a maser (especially if it heats water up in a hurry). If memory serves, masers are an even older technology than lasers.

[Hyperspeed]

Yeah I've often considered Analogic to be on the anal side.

Hey if l.a.s.e.r is light amplification then what is "maser"?

[blobrana]

The microwave equivalent of the laser is the maser...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser

[Hyperspeed]

Reading that link made me think how deranged some boffins are. Whoever wrote it was delighted to announce that lasers in Star Wars just weren't in keeping with the laws of physics. Not only this but they derrided films for their depiction of visible security lasers.

If the lasers were invisible it wouldn't be as exciting watching Catherine Zeta Jones' ample bottom squeazing between them now would it!

Down with science!

[Karlos]

Indeed, Tom Clancy dicusses the use of a similar weapon in his book "Debt of Honor" when it is used to down a Japanese AWACS plane covertly.

It could also be used to deflect a plane on a suicide mission....

And for those of you unable to wait for his next book, try the "Tom Clancy Plot Generator" here... (towards the bottom of the page)

[Hyperspeed]

Damnit, the CIA deleted the [Submit] button.

[metalman]

AC-130 "Fry Daddy" (conceptual rendering)

The military plans to test the Advanced Tactical Laser, a laser weapon mounted on a C-130H air transport that could destroy enemy ground targets. The beam would be about the size of a quarter.