US army has laser guns in its sights

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Gigacore

Gigacore

Dreamweaver
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LASER weapons mounted on trucks could be ready to roll into battle within five years. This week Boeing won a $36 million contract from the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command to build the optics needed to track and focus lethal laser energy onto rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds. The High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator will use a new solid-state laser powered by electricity from a truck-mounted diesel generator, rather than bulky and dangerous chemicals.
Later this year, military engineers will stage a shoot-out between two rival designs for the 100-kilowatt solid-state laser. The winning laser will have to be ruggedised to survive field conditions and made small enough to fit inside the truck. The laser is scheduled to start shooting at real targets in 2013.
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MetalheadGautham

MetalheadGautham

AFK
Conventional laser cutters have had the problem of being limited to targets at a particular distance only, due to focus problems. I wonder how these guys plan to get around that issue and create a multi-range laser gun.
 
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karmanya

Journeyman
how exactly does a laser work? is it like regular light focused onto a single point with a couple of lenses, only amp'd a bit?
 
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