In the USA, they tested a combat laser - on lithium-ion batteries and with an Xbox controller
- Transfer
Boeing Corporation is developing a laser gun on the order of the US Army, and now new weapons have been tested at sea and beyond. The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) - just a high-energy laser mounted on a large truck - successfully shot down unmanned drones and 60mm mortar shells in the Florida sky earlier this year.
The current test was conducted in a windy and foggy environment, an important step to prove That this technology is suitable for use in the navy. The HEL MD used a 10-kilowatt laser - much less powerful than it was planned to use in the final version - in order to “successfully intercept” more than 150 targets on the basis of the Eglin Air Force Base, a proving ground of the Department of Defense in northwestern Florida. In other words, the laser disabled or destroyed the targets.
In simple terms, this laser creates an incredibly powerful, highly focused beam of light and directs it into a moving target. The light goes into heat and, after enough heat has been transferred, the target is hit and falls or explodes. The Army and Boeing (which received $ 36 million for this project) have been working on this for most of the decade to create a new generation weapons platform.
The lithium-ion batteries that power the HEL MD laser are charged with a 60-kilowatt diesel generator. Thus, as long as the military has a full gas tank, they will be able to shoot off target targets endlessly. The system uses a telescope and an infrared camera with a wide viewing angle to detect targets and aim at them. Boeing designed the system in such a way that it will be controlled only by the driver and operator with a laptop and controller from the Xbox. Placing it on a truck makes the system mobile, and more useful in combat situations.
The next step for the laser gun will be to increase power to 50 or 60 kilowatts, a "tactically significant power level" for use against missiles, artillery and mortar shells and unmanned drones. It is expected that this laser gun will not be ready for use in at least the next few years.
(And there, the new Xbox will come out, and the operators will grow. And they will build a battery factory .)
The current test was conducted in a windy and foggy environment, an important step to prove That this technology is suitable for use in the navy. The HEL MD used a 10-kilowatt laser - much less powerful than it was planned to use in the final version - in order to “successfully intercept” more than 150 targets on the basis of the Eglin Air Force Base, a proving ground of the Department of Defense in northwestern Florida. In other words, the laser disabled or destroyed the targets.
In simple terms, this laser creates an incredibly powerful, highly focused beam of light and directs it into a moving target. The light goes into heat and, after enough heat has been transferred, the target is hit and falls or explodes. The Army and Boeing (which received $ 36 million for this project) have been working on this for most of the decade to create a new generation weapons platform.
The lithium-ion batteries that power the HEL MD laser are charged with a 60-kilowatt diesel generator. Thus, as long as the military has a full gas tank, they will be able to shoot off target targets endlessly. The system uses a telescope and an infrared camera with a wide viewing angle to detect targets and aim at them. Boeing designed the system in such a way that it will be controlled only by the driver and operator with a laptop and controller from the Xbox. Placing it on a truck makes the system mobile, and more useful in combat situations.
The next step for the laser gun will be to increase power to 50 or 60 kilowatts, a "tactically significant power level" for use against missiles, artillery and mortar shells and unmanned drones. It is expected that this laser gun will not be ready for use in at least the next few years.
(And there, the new Xbox will come out, and the operators will grow. And they will build a battery factory .)