Laser/Beam weapons

[SPIEZ]

Are we talking about premature detonation or merely destroying the vehicle?

Technically both. I m not well versed about the warheads, AFAIK, they use a primar to ignite the warhead. Hence the heat energy could act as the primar itself. Either way, destroying the delivery platform or the warhead before reaching the target works.

 

[trackwhack]

Lasers are not the future of ABM's. They have other applications but for ABM's, particle weapons are the best suited. Particle weapons require microseconds to destroy a missile whereas Lasers require seconds. Keeping a beam fixed onto a spot when a missile is doing Mack 10 is not simple.

Particle weapons systems are in fact so close to reality that US and Russia is already spending a lot of money on developing chips that can resist particle weapons. However this seems to be a futile research basis initial findings. Particle ABM's will start being deployed before 2030 by countries like US and India where the most research is going on right now.

 

[SPIEZ]

Lasers are not the future of ABM's. They have other applications but for ABM's, particle weapons are the best suited. Particle weapons require microseconds to destroy a missile whereas Lasers require seconds. Keeping a beam fixed onto a spot when a missile is doing Mack 10 is not simple.

Particle weapons systems are in fact so close to reality that US and Russia is already spending a lot of money on developing chips that can resist particle weapons. However this seems to be a futile research basis initial findings. Particle ABM's will start being deployed before 2030 by countries like US and India where the most research is going on right now.

OK, I ll start calling it Directed Energy Weapons (DEW).

Can you post further information regarding the Particle weapons ?

 

[trackwhack]

Most info available is already on this thread.

http://defenceforumindia.com/strategic-forces/3766-laser-beam-weapons.html

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Gyrotron Non-Lethal Energy Beam Weapons on Air Force Gunships - Popular Mechanics

Special Ops Gunships To Get Pain-Inducing Weapons

Nonlethal energy-beam blasters that cause pain without killing their targets could finally find a home—inside special operations gunships. Here's how they work.

The Pentagon has been researching nonlethal pain rays since the mid-'90s, but finding a vehicle to carry them has proven to be a challenge. Researchers have mounted these microwave weapons—which repel people by heating water molecules just under the skin, reportedly without damaging tissue—on trucks, guard towers and Humvees, but the U.S. military has never deployed them for real-world use. (Using such weapons on civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan is not seen as a good way to win hearts and minds.)

Undaunted, the Air Force is now trying to install pain rays on Special Operations gunships, which are 98-foot-long AC-130 aircraft originally designed to haul cargo. The Airborne Active Denial System would require a beam generator of unprecedented size, says Diana Loree, manager of the program at the Air Force Research Lab. Megawatt microwave generators (called gyrotrons) already exist, producing intense heat in plasma-research laboratories and factories that need to melt glass or composite materials, but the military program requires a generator twice as large as any existing model. AFRL staff hope to demonstrate a giant gyrotron during ground tests in 2014, Loree says. Special Ops forces might welcome an overhead nonlethal weapon that disperses mobs or stops people from advancing on downed aircraft. Also, the use of an energy weapon during a clandestine mission would be less prone to public outcry.

Marketing Discomfort
Active Denial System (ADS) microwave weapons work well in tests but don't get used much. The U.S. Army's Project Sheriff mounted ADS on a light armored vehicle, along with dazzling lights and sonic blasters; the hardware was ready in 2005 but was never fielded. In October, Raytheon said it sold a lower-power version of ADS called Silent Guardian to a foreign buyer and to a U.S. law-enforcement agency, but will not identify the customers.

Read more: Gyrotron Non-Lethal Energy Beam Weapons on Air Force Gunships - Popular Mechanics

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Caution India: INDIA'S AMBITIOUS LASER BEAM WEPON KALI TESTED SUCCESSFULLY

INDIA'S AMBITIOUS LASER BEAM WEAPON KALI TESTED SUCCESSFULLY

In January 2009, the Brahmos Army version was undergoing a specific user scenario test which failed. The missile overshot its target by a few kilometers.

No one ever knew what parameters were getting checked & what exactly went wrong. The media cover up was that the missile failed to detect its target in a simulated urban environment with similar target decoys scattered at close proximity. But it was widely speculated in defense forums that the Americans had sniffed the test in advance & had selectively turned off the GPS in the test area, talk about the good old American gift - 'to Russia with love'. This has led to India's interest in having its own GPS system the GAGAN/IRNSS after talks failed, for India to be a part of the Russian GLONASS and the EU's 'Galileo'. Reportedly, the recent Brahmos tests with GLONASS receivers have been successful and it's an important direction towards removing dependency on American GPS.

The modern economies & their armed forces in particular are heavily dependent on satellites. Reconnaissance imagery, communication via satellite phones, target co-ordinates for missiles launched by land, fighter aircrafts or ships, everything needs an input from the satellite in one way or the other.

Imagine a war theatre in 2050, it is definitely not going to be on the land, air or sea.
for manual co-ordinates from the local ATC, there would be no DTH TV and the F-22 would fall out of sky like a stone. The outcome is unimaginable chaos. I believe, with almost everyone having the N-bomb nowadays, thanks to AQ Khan, the next most powerful weapon will be a country's capability to knock out the adversary's satellites. This will also be the most potent deterrent in the years to come. It's the 21st century 'Little Boy' that can bring a superpower to its knees.

Assuming CAG keeps doing a good job and the DRDO restructuring goes well, coupled with an 8% GDP growth, assuming ISRO/DRDO are exempted from international sanctions and technological apartheid; come 2025, and DRDO would present to the Indian armed forces the weaponized KALI – Kilo Ampere Linear Injector or the kinetic attack loitering interceptor. The Kali is a BARC-DRDO project started in 1985. Kali in simple terms is an electron injector. The electron beam is further concentrated to form a high energy EM ray. It is a high power X-ray/Microwave gun which can blast a missile or a satellite. The latest form of KALI is the Kali-5000 which can produce beams as strong as 40 GW, which is good enough to vaporize or cause extensive damage to electronic gadgetry. However currently at 26 tons, it is too heavy to be weaponized, it is too power hungry and needs a lot of recharge time.

The US already has been running the Kinetic Energy Anti-Satellite (KE-ASAT) program, funded by approx. $50 Mil yearly, and the Chinese have the ASAT program. The Chinese, however, have been much more innovative. They are speculated to have created the satellite suicide bomber, it is a 'parasitic' microsatellite or a Nano-satellite that attaches itself to a bigger satellite and then detonates itself on Beijing's instruction. It is a new age predator beyond anyone's imagination.


Anybody have more insight about this??

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Russian / Soviet Point Defence Weapons

Ranets E High Power Microwave Directed Energy Weapon

The Ranets E is a High Power Microwave (HPM) weapon system intended to produce electrically lethal damage or disruption and dysfunction in opposing airborne systems, be they aircraft or guided munitions in flight. The system was first disclosed by Rosoboronexport in 2001, but little technical detail has been disclosed since then.

The weapon uses an X-band pulsed 500 MegaWatt HPM source, generating 10 to 20 nanosecond pulses at a 500 Hz PRF, and average output power of 2.5 to 5 kiloWatts. The antenna is large enough to provide a gain of 45 to 50 dB in the X-band, for a total weapon weight of 5 tonnes. The weapon has been described as a "radio-frequency cannon" and Russian sources credit it with a lethal range of 20 miles against the electronic guidance systems of PGMs and aircraft avionic systems.

The cited lethal range figures are predicated on the assumption that the target is vulnerable to a field strength of the order of ~1.0 kiloVolt/m and the antenna has a gain between 45 and 50 dBi. If we assume target hardness for typical COTS electronics, the lethal radius is between 3.8 and 7.0 nautical miles, if the target hardness is greater, the lethal footprint is reduced accordingly. What is clear is that the Ranets E will be a credible electrically lethal weapon at ranges typical for a terminal point defence weapon weapon.

The product brochure for the weapon shows its deployment on the MAZ-7910 chassis using the 54K6 command post cabin to house the Ranets system, with an roof mounted turntable for the steerable parabolic antenna. Other lower quality illustrations (not reproduced) show the Ranets E vehicle linked via cables to a 85V6 Vega/Orion Emitter Locating System (ELS) used as the targeting element. In the absence of an integrated targeting system on the Ranets E - problematic due to the risk of fratricide as even sidelobes would be electrically lethal at short ranges - it is likely that an operational system would be remotely aimed by another asset. Other than an ELS a SAM system engagement radar with sufficient angular accuracy would be suitable.

The CONOPS for the system would involve attaching one or more Ranets E systems to a battery of SAMs and integrating them with the battery fire control system, such that the Ranets E systems would be cued, aimed and fired remotely.

The APA illustration shows the system deployed on the MZKT-7930 chassis as that is the current production replacement for the original MAZ-7910.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Agni-V's detonator developed in Chandigarh lab - Times Of India

Agni-V's detonator developed in Chandigarh lab

CHANDIGARH: A DRDO lab in the city, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) has developed the detonator which can trigger the explosive in a nuclear warhead and account for the successful take off of Agni-V -- a 5,000km range nuclear missile. This was announced by Avinash Chander, the scientist who has developed the missile which will be launched next month. Agni has already created ripples in South Asia with its long range capability.

"The missile has a wide range and with this our defence strategies will become enhanced. It is not to scare countries like China, but to become capable of self-defence. The TBRL has a major role in the development and testing of Agni-V. The detonator, which will trigger explosion in the warhead of the missile, has been tested in Chandigarh," said Chander.

The 50 tonne missile has a longer range than its previous versions. Though not much ambitious about entering the elite inter continental ballistic missile (ICBM) club, which includes the US, Russia and China, Chander added, "We do not need the ICBM, as we do not perceive such a threat. But Agni-V shows our capability in marching towards this way."

DRDO is also working on augmenting the power of laser weapons from 10 kilowatt to 20 kilowatt. "The major area of th
rust will be laser technology and its role in weapons. We are working in this area. This includes miniaturizing warheads while maintaining the lethality," said Chander.

Also, a precise missile guided weapon, Prahar, with a short range of 90-50km will soon be inducted in the Army. The warhead of this weapon has its genesis in the TBRL, Chandigarh. Dr W Selvamurthy, Chief Controller (R&D), DRDO, ministry of defence, said, "This indigenous missile is very promising and precise."

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Air Force eyes fuselage-mounted laser weapons to defend bombers from missiles and aircraft - Military & Aerospace Electronics

Air Force eyes fuselage-mounted laser weapons to defend bombers from missiles and aircraft

U.S. Air Force researchers are working with high-energy laser weapons experts at TAU Technologies LLC in Albuquerque, N.M., to develop technologies that eventually may lead to 100-kilowatt laser weapons mounted to the skin of jet bombers and other combat aircraft to defend them against missiles, unmanned combat aircraft (UCAV), enemy jet fighters, and other threats.

Scientists at the Directed Energy Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., are awarding a $2.7 million contract to TAU Technologies to perform laboratory research such as computer modeling and similar experiments to develop phased array laser beam control solutions for 100-kilowatt high-energy laser weapons that conform the fuselages of bomber aircraft. The contract is part of the Air Force Beam Projection & Compensation (BP&C) program.

TAU Technologies experts will try to develop laser weapons technologies that provide ultra-responsive, wide cones of beam coverage with acceptable diffraction-limited performance. Air Force researchers are particularly interested in high-resolution imaging, target-based phase sensing to combine the HEL beams coherently at the target, wavefront sensing, beam projection, and system-level beam control architectures.

TAU researchers will consider atmosphere, target acquisition, pointing, and tracking in their research work for the Air Force. The goal is to realize scalable beam control architectures to enable a 100-kilowatt fuselage-conformal high-energy laser weapons able to defend bomber aircraft from enemy attack.
TAU's work will include computer-based modeling and simulation, laboratory experimentation, and field testing and evaluation. TAU experts will develop new and innovative approaches to phased arrays, including controls, optical design, target and atmospheric modeling using a wave-optics code, and opto-mechanical design and analysis.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Finding explosives with laser beams

Finding explosives with laser beams

People like to keep a safe distance from explosive substances, but in order to analyze them, close contact is usually inevitable.

At the Vienna University of Technology, a new method has now been developed to detect chemicals inside a container over a distance of more than a hundred meters. Laser light is scattered in a very specific way by different substances. Using this light, the contents of a nontransparent container can be analyzed without opening it.

"The method we are using is Raman-spectroscopy", says Professor Bernhard Lendl (TU Vienna). The sample is irradiated with a laser beam. When the light is scattered by the molecules of the sample, it can change its energy. For example, the photons can transfer energy to the molecules by exciting molecular vibrations.

This changes the wavelength of the light - and thus its colour. Analyzing the colour spectrum of the scattered light, scientists can determine by what kind of molecules it must have been scattered.

Measuring over Great Distances - with Highest Precision
"Until now, the sample had to be placed very close to the laser and the light detector for this kind of Raman-spectroscopy", says Bernard Zachhuber. Due to his technological advancements, measurements can now be made over long distances. "Among hundreds of millions of photons, only a few trigger a Raman-scattering process in the sample", says Bernhard Zachhuber.

These scattered particles of light are scattered uniformly in all directions. Only a tiny fraction travel back to the light detector. From this very weak signal, as much information as possible has to be extracted. This can be done using a highly efficient telescope and extremely sensitive light detectors.

In this project (funded by the EU) the researchers at TU Vienna collaborated with private companies and with partners in public safety, including The Spanish Guardia Civil who are are extremely interested in the new technology. During the project, the Austrian military was also involved.

On their testing grounds the researchers from TU Vienna could put their method to the extreme. They tested frequently used explosives, such as TNT, ANFO or RDX. The tests were highly successful: "Even at a distance of more than a hundred meters, the substances could be detected reliably", says Engelene Chrysostom (TU Vienna).

Seeing Through Walls
Raman spectroscopy over long distances even works if the sample is hidden in a nontransparent container. The laser beam is scattered by the container wall, but a small portion of the beam penetrates the box. There, in the sample, it can still excite Raman-scattering processes. "The challenge is to distinguish the container's light signal from the sample signal", says Bernhard Lendl.

This can be done using a simple geometric trick: The laser beam hits the container on a small, well-defined spot. Therefore, the light signal emitted by the container stems from a very small region. The light which enters the container, on the other hand, is scattered into a much larger region.

If the detector telescope is not exactly aimed at the point at which the laser hits the container but at a region just a few centimeters away, the characteristic light signal of the contents can be measured instead of the signal coming from the container.

The new method could make security checks at the airport a lot easier - but the area of application is much wider. The method could be used wherever it is hard to get close to the subject of investigation.

It could be just as useful for studying icebergs as for geological analysis on a Mars mission. In the chemical industry, a broad range of possible applications could be opened up.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Russia develops air defence lasers

According to CEO of Russia's Almaz-Antei advanced arms makers Dr Vladislav Menshikov, his company continues work, started decades ago in the Soviet Union, to develop powerful airborne lasers capable of shooting down hostile aircraft and incoming missiles. Sources say a weapon of this kind can destroy targets travelling at altitudes of up to 40 kilometers.

Chief Editor of the Natsionalnaya Oborona (National Defence) journal Dr Igor Korothcenko is 'moderately skeptical':

"Laser weapons will catch on, but not before 30 to 40 years from now. The problem is that developing them is exorbitantly costly. In the near future, guided missiles will be doing the air defence job. In the meantime, Russia has made considerable progress in laser weapon development. Its work in this field is focused on powerful airborne laser guns."

Laser weapon R and D in the US is on hold, but is likely to be reactivated, as the Americans build missile defence systems and consider plans to take weapons to orbit. Russia is doing everything in its power to avert a costly arms race in space.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

LiveLeak.com - India's beam weapon 'Kali-5000'

India's beam weapon 'Kali-5000'

India's beam weapon 'Kali-5000'
MUMBAI - The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) here is in the final
stages of assembling a powerful electron accelerating machine named
''Kali-5000`` which, its scientists say, can potentially be used as a beam
weapon.

Bursts of microwaves packed with gigawatts of power (one gigawatt is 1000
million watts) produced by this machine, when aimed at enemy missiles and
aircraft, will cripple their electronics systems and computer chips and
bring them down.

According to scientists, ''soft killing`` by high power microwaves has
advantages over the so called laser weapon which destroys by drilling
holes through metal.

Kali-5000 will be ready for testing by the end of this year, according to
Mr P H Ron, head of the accelerator and pulse power division at Barc and
chief designer of India`s first star wars weapon.

However, in the present form India`s beam weapon is too bulky - it weighs
26 tons - including tanks containing 12000 litres of oil. Mr Ron said some
''compacting`` was possible.

He said Kali (kilo-ampere linear injector) machine was developed for
industrial applications and that the defence use was a recent spinoff. He,
however, declined to elaborate.

Describing it as a machine ''bordering basic research,`` Atomic Energy
Commission Chairman Rajagopalan Chidambaram admitted in an interview that
it has military potential. ''There are some technologies we have to be in
touch with because they may become useful (later),`` he said.

Development of the Kali machine was mooted in 1985 by Dr Chidambaram, then
director of Barc, but work earnestly began in 1989.

Mr Ron said the machine essentially generated pulses of highly energetic
electrons. Other components in the machine down the line converted the
electrons into flash x-rays (for ultra high-speed photography) or
microwaves. The electron beam itself can be used for welding.

The Defence Balistics Research Institute in Chandigarh is already using an
x-ray version of Kali to study speed of projectiles.

Another defense institute in Bangalore is using a microwave-producing
version of Kali which the scientists use for testing the vulnerability of
the electronic systems going into the light combat aircraft under
development and designing electrostatic shields to protect them from
microwave attack by the enemy.

According to Barc scientists, the Kali machine has for the first time
provided India a way to ''harden`` the electronic systems used in
satellites and missiles against the deadly electromagnetic impulses (Emi)
generated by nuclear weapons.

The Emi wrecks havoc by creating intense electric field of several
thousand volts per centimeter. The electronic components currently used in
missiles can withstand fields of Just 300 volts per centimeter.

While the Kali systems built so far are single shot pulse power systems
(they produce one burst of microwaves and the next burst comes much
later), Kali-5000 is a rapid fire device, and hence its potential as a
beam weapon.

According to Barc-published reports, the machine will shoot several
thousand bursts of microwaves, each burst lasting for just 60 billionths
of a second and packed with a power of about four gigawatts.

The high power microwave pulses travel in a straight line and do not
dissipate their energy if the frequency falls between three and ten
gigahertz.

According to Barc scientists, a microwave power of 150 megawatts has
already been demonstrated in earlier versions of Kali.

Source: DECCAN HERALD
--------

Newsgroup commentary on the above:

Auroral Arms Race: India plays "catch-up" against Beijing-US EMP/HAARP


Fearful of Sino-American advances in military uses of electromagnetic energy weapons that fry circuits, clouds and brains by bouncing gigawatts of energy off the ionosphere from thousands of miles away,the world's largest democracy is taking the precaution of developing electrostatic shield technologies to "rebounce" directed HAARP energies "somewhere else."

The electrostatic shield is a defensive technology against electromagnetic projection weapons now in the hands of China and the US (HAARP and the tactical pulse weapon that can "shoot down" satellites (actually burn out their circuits.)

India is also adapting its microwave technology for deterrence. Their 'Kali - 5000" (kilo-ampere linear injector) is being adapted for use against an aggressor's planes and missiles. Research on an array of shield and "Ray Wars" projects are underway at research centers at Chandigarh, Bangalore, and Bhabha. (Why can't the U.S. be this open and honest about its projects -- everyone in the world knows about HAARP except the American people.)

There is no indication that India is following the U.S. and China in developing clandstine weather modification technologies for military use. India's weather modification projects well publicized and benign. It appears that truly open governments do not resort to such horrors.


American missiles, as China (and everyone else)now knows thanks to Clinton and Loral's Bernard Schwartz, can be knocked out by a pulse of just 300 volts per centimeter -- and a hardened replacement chip is still years away --hence the new heavy-handed emphasis on the Alaskan weapon and GWB's willingness to dump our current nuclear warhead and ICBM arsenal for something better. (This is not a Clintonesque treason/sellout; the our best nuclear weapon delivery systems are garbage now against China's EMP and exotic info-warfare (infiltration and sabotage) capabilities.

India -- which is a highly advanced country the with a population enjoying a standard of living and education levels higher than Germany's although mixed within a population of one billion souls on the sub-continent is faced with dangerous neighbors: the totalitarian, deadly and neurotically Machiiavellian communist-globalist regime in Beijing and Beijing's on-again-off-again puppet Pakistan (whenever Pakistan is manipulated back into the hands of Beijing-directed Bhutto faction -- which includes Hillary Clinton's cut-from-the-same-cloth girlfriend, Banizar Bhutto -- when you are dealing with Beijing you never know what duplicitious official has "gone Clinton" conducting self-sabotaging policies (like aggression in Kashmir--where CHina secretly encourages fanatics on both sides)-- although Musharraf appears to be a genuine populist and humanitarian along the lines of Pinochet, Fujimori, Pat Buchanan and Putin when it comes to oppsoing globalist skulduggery.

At any rate, Delhi feels it prudent to develop defenses against the Beijing-Globalist axis. And it doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to see that the United States, whether under Clinton or Bush, cannot be relied on to thward Bejing's increasingly clear aggressive designs, should the PLA feel confident enough to drop its current Sun-Tzu-Leninist-Zhouist subversion and begin overt military aggression or intimidation.

I hope India, Japan, South Korea, and the Taiwan (with China's nationalist government in exile), Russia, Ukraine, Iraq and Argentina can break free of Sino-American globalism and start their own
truly liberal and populist world block, a bastion of sanity to which the other financially ravaged nations with humane leadership and a clear view of where the IMF, the World Bank and globalist "free trade" (free leveraged plunder, actually) can find refuge and counterforce. Why not hope that?
Obviously the current geopolitical monstrosity errected in behalf of the financial aristocracies for their "global plantation" has no future on this planet. And certainly no leadership the Establishmentazzi bankrolls, no globalist-puppet international organizations and NGO's, all instruments of rich-men's deceit and larceny, can never act intelligently to reform international governance on behalf of common humanity.

A world led by open-societies cooperating from clearly understood nationally framed popular interests is just what mankind needs -- and an India that can protect itself from the secret terror weapons of Princelings and Western plutocrats is a mighty good start in that direction.

(I am not privy to any secrets. I make deductions. If I think they are important and sound I pass them on for you to evaluate.)

 

[LETHALFORCE]

ESA to catch laser beam from Moon mission

ESA to catch laser beam from Moon mission


In 2013, a NASA satellite will beam digital signals to an ESA receiving station fast enough to stream dozens of movies at once. The test will help to demonstrate the readiness of next-generation optical links for future data-intensive deep-space missions. Even today's highest-tech satellites still employ radio waves for communication back to ground stations on Earth, meaning that satellites require large and bulky antenna dishes.

But if all goes as planned next year, ESA will help to demonstrate that communication at optical wavelengths from ground to space and back is a mature - and very fast - technology and ready to be used in upcoming missions around Earth and in the Solar System.

The joint ESA/NASA activity is part of NASA's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) project, which will use a new optical terminal flying on NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer - LADEE - spacecraft to communicate with a trio of stations on Earth.

ESA: world-first in space laser communication
"In 2001, the world's first spacecraft-to-spacecraft laser communication demonstration was performed by ESA, and a second-generation laser communication system will be deployed in 2013 on Alphasat and, starting from 2015, on the European Data Relay Satellite system," says Zoran Sodnik, manager for ESA's Lunar Optical Communication Link project.

"Now, we want to confirm the effectiveness of laser communication from the Moon through Earth's atmosphere to ground and back.

Optical communication ready for ground-to-space data
"This will show that optical communication technology is ready for future science and exploration missions that need improved capacity to transmit valuable scientific data, while reducing onboard resources."

Communication by optical laser promises to reduce the mass and volume needed for onboard receiving/transmitting equipment, and can provide data rates many times faster than possible with traditional radio frequencies.

NASA's LADEE spacecraft, to be launched to the Moon in 2013, will transmit laser signals to two NASA stations, one in California and one in New Mexico, and to ESA's Optical Ground Station (OGS), in Tenerife, Spain.

"The LLCD mission, using both NASA and ESA optical ground stations, is also a demonstration of the value of cross-agency support for optical communications as recommended by the Optical Link Study Group," says John Rush, at NASA's Office of Space Communication and Navigation.

The OLSG, a subcommittee of the Interagency Operations Advisory Group (see link at right), is co-chaired by ESA and NASA and is developing guidance for the standardisation of optical communication that will enable future cross-support services among international space agencies.

The group has found that in order to reach high levels of optical data transfer reliability, multiple ground stations with diverse geographic locations will be necessary in order to deal with cloud obscuration (when one station is clouded over, another can take over).

"Due to the high cost of multiple ground stations, sharing among space agencies will speed the introduction of optical communication technology in our space missions," says Mr Rush.

In autumn 2013, test data will be transmitted through the atmosphere to the receiver on LADEE and back by a beam of infrared light at 1550 nm wavelength using new modulation and coding techniques.

Optical communication technology provides very high data rates
ESA's Tenerife station will be equipped with upgraded pointing, acquisition and tracking equipment, since laser signals travel along a very narrow beam path and must be pointed very accurately, and with a novel optical receiver developed for the Agency by Switzerland's RUAG Space.

The new optical receiver will be tested at a RUAG facility in January 2013 and installed at Tenerife next March. LADEE launch is planned for mid-2013, and the first laser link tests are scheduled about four weeks after lunar orbit entry.

"With our partners, we are developing optical space communication technology providing very high data rates using lasers weighing just a few kilograms and needing just a few watts of power," says ESA's Klaus-Juergen Schulz, Head of the Ground Station Systems Division.

"We aim to show that optical data communication working from ground through the atmosphere to space and back is ready to support future missions."

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Laser Powers Lockheed Martin's Stalker UAS For 48 Hours

Laser Powers Lockheed Martin's Stalker UAS For 48 Hours

Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive recently demonstrated the capabilities of an innovative laser power system to extend the Stalker Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) flight time to more than 48 hours. This increase in flight duration represents an improvement of 2,400 percent. Stalker is a small, silent UAS used by Special Operations Forces since 2006 to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

"We're pleased with the results of this test. Laser power holds real promise in extending the capabilities of Stalker," said Tom Koonce, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Stalker program manager.

"A ground-to-air recharging system like this allows us to provide practically unlimited flight endurance to extend and expand the mission profiles that the Stalker vehicle can fulfill."

The Stalker UAS was modified for the indoor flight test to incorporate LaserMotive's proprietary system that makes it possible to wirelessly transfer energy over long distances using laser light to provide a continual source of power to the UAS.

At the conclusion of the flight test, held in a wind tunnel, the battery on the Stalker UAS had more energy stored than it did at the beginning of the test. The test was concluded only because the flight had already surpassed the initial endurance goals set by the team.

"This test is one of the final steps in bringing laser-powered flight to the field," said Tom Nugent, president of LaserMotive.

"By enabling in-flight recharging, this system will ultimately extend capabilities, improve endurance and enable new missions for electric aircraft. The next step in proving the reality of this technology is to demonstrate it outdoors in an extended flight of the Stalker."

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately held research and development company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

New Homeland Security Laser Scanner Reads People At Molecular Level « CBS DC

New Homeland Security Laser Scanner Reads People At Molecular Level


WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – The Department of Homeland Security will soon be using a laser at airports that can detect everything about you from over 160-feet away.

Gizmodo reports a scanner that could read people at the molecular level has been invented. This laser-based scanner – which can be used 164-feet away — could read everything from a person's adrenaline levels, to traces of gun powder on a person's clothes, to illegal substances — and it can all be done without a physical search. It also could be used on multiple people at a time, eliminating random searches at airports.

The laser-based scanner is expected to be used in airports as soon as 2013, Gizmodo reports.

The scanner is called the Picosecond Programmable Laser. The device works by blasting its target with lasers which vibrate molecules that are then read by the machine that determine what substances a person has been exposed to. This could be Semtex explosives to the bacon and egg sandwich they had for breakfast that morning.


The inventor of this invasive technology is Genia Photonics. Active since 2009, they hold 30 patents on laser technology designed for scanning. In 2011, they formed a partnership with In-Q-Tel, a company chartered by the CIA and Congress to build "a bridge between the Agency and a new set of technology innovators."

Genia Photonics wouldn't be the only ones with similar technology as George Washington University developed something similar in 2008, according to Gizmodo. The Russians also developed something akin to the Picosecond Programmable laser. The creators of that scanner claim that "it is even able to detect traces of explosives left by fingerprints."

But what makes Genia Photonics' version so special is that the machine is more compact compared to the other devices and can still maintain its incredible range.

Although the technology could be used by "Big Brother," Genia Photonics states that the device could be far more beneficial being used for medical purposes to check for cancer in real time, lipids detection, and patient monitoring.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

cross posted

Laser-Powered Aerial Electricity



US fighter aircraft manufacturers are delving deeper into the field of unmanned air systems (UASs). Lockheed Martin, the producer of the F-16 and F-35 fighter aircraft, is investing in the development of a method for transferring electric power to UASs through the use of lasers, in order to provide them with a very long endurance period.
As previously reported by IsraelDefense, Boeing, the manufacturer of the F-15 and F-18 fighter aircraft, signed a cooperation agreement with Israel's Elbit Systems last week, for cooperating in the field of UASs. Lockheed Martin, the competing US aircraft manufacturer, recently carried out a test in the framework of the flight of a small UAS. In its framework, electric energy was transferred to the UAS's engine through the use of a directed laser beam.
The UAS has an endurance of only two hours, yet it stayed aloft for approximately 48 hours in the framework of the test. According to the US aircraft manufacturer, the test was stopped after 48 hours only because the duration of the flight had considerably surpassed what was initially planned. The test was conducted within a wind tunnel, and now another test is being planned for an ordinary flight.
Many companies around the world are attempting to use focused, directed lasers in order to transfer energy to UASs and satellites. The method, known as Laser Beaming, will allow these instruments to operate in a near unlimited capacity, as they will no longer depend on the lifespans of batteries.

 

[praneetbajpaie]

Our very own laser beam weapon KALI

KALI (laser) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[LETHALFORCE]

 

[LETHALFORCE]

cross posted

Lockheed Martin Performs First Ever Outdoor Flight Test Of Laser Powered UAS

Lockheed Martin Performs First Ever Outdoor Flight Test Of Laser Powered UAS


Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive have completed a series of flight tests of the Stalker Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to further validate the performance of an innovative laser power system. These tests mark the first-ever outdoor flight of a UAS powered by laser.

Stalker is a small, silent UAS used by Special Operations Forces since 2006 to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. In a recent wind tunnel test, the UAS demonstrated 48 hours of continuous flight powered by this innovative laser system.

"This series of proof-of-concept tests took place in a remote desert location where environmental factors like wind and heat were constants. Not only did we demonstrate that the laser powered Stalker could perform well in this type of environment, we flew during both day and night without incident," said Tom Koonce, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Stalker program manager.

"Ultimately we hope to provide our customers with remarkably long endurance to extend and expand the mission profiles possible for a small UAS like Stalker."

For the demonstration, the Stalker was fitted with a lightweight photovoltaic receiver and on-board power management hardware. The ground-based laser transmitter was based on LaserMotive's hardware developed for its winning entry in the 2009 NASA Centennial Challenge. Accomplishments of these proof-of-concept flights include:

+ Demonstrated net positive power to Stalker in flight, at ranges up to 600 meters.

+ Proved that the laser did not damage the Stalker and that the addition of the laser receiver did not impact its normal flight operations or aerodynamics.

+ Operated multiple test flights in a range of desert conditions (day and night, high temperatures, and strong winds), demonstrating the ruggedness of the Stalker-mounted laser receiver power system.

+ The beam director tracked the receiver for long periods, with centimeter accuracy at 500 meters, despite turbulence and aircraft maneuvers.

+ Met all operational and safety requirements, including coordination with the Laser Clearinghouse and flight operations.

"We're excited to work with Lockheed Martin to validate the ability of lasers to power Stalker in the field," said Tom Nugent, president of LaserMotive. "Wireless power via laser is an important emerging technology, and I look forward to continuing to work together to further prove this technology in future experiments."

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Project SEESAW and the Effort to Build Particle Beam Weapons | Top Secret Writers

During the 1960s, the JASON group was asked by the federal government to research the possibility of Project SEESAW being successful in creating a particle beam weapon.

The group published their findings in February 1968, which outlined the overall research, the progress, and the setbacks that the project faced.

Interestingly enough, the panel of advisers did not automatically conclude that that particle beam weapons were impossible to build. The report seemed to infer that a particle beam weapon derived from Project Seesaw was entirely possible.

It seems that a weapon that was considered to be science fiction by the general public at the time, was actually thought to be possible by the United States' greatest minds.

Project Seesaw was the earliest effort by the U.S. government to create a charged particle beam weapon. The idea was to create a directed energy weapon that could "fire" a high-energy beam of atomic or subatomic particles that could damage a target on the molecular level.

For you Tesla fans, this article starts with a reference to Tunguska.