December 6, the US army newspaper "Stars and Stripes" reported that the US Navy is "Pons" warship mounted laser weapon system, saying the test results exceed expectations. In fact, as early as at the beginning, the US military announced that energy costs will then be deployed on ships laser weapons, laser weapons that can effectively deal with enemy drones, boats and incoming shells, and each launch less than a dollar!
Now, we can not help but want to understand the development of laser weapons to a kind of stage? Compared with traditional weapons, what are the advantages and disadvantages?
How the laser is generated
In 1958, humans in the laboratory inspire a nature there are no light - laser. 50 years, the laser has been closely linked to our lives, no longer be separated from you into the supermarket to buy things (laser bar code scanning), home to the open Internet (fiber optic broadband), the laser has been quietly for us jobs. In addition, the beam beautiful stage on television, the classroom teacher with laser pointer, there are many important applications in medicine, such as laser light to kill cancer cells, Lasik surgery and so numerous, too numerous to mention, However, scientists believe that the potential of laser light in a very long period of time does not run out.
Light emitted from the atomic composition of the material out of atomic energy after obtaining an unstable state (that is, an excited state), it will be in the form of the energy of photons emitted. The laser is to be tempted (excitation) of photons out of the queue, the queue in which photons are photons, optical properties as extremely consistent pace. Analogy is, ordinary light, such as light bulbs to emit photons of each different, and will run around in all directions, very united, but the laser photons are the heart to a thought, an effort to make, which leads to they are invincible, so powerful, so people used to put a laser called a "death ray."
Laser distinct personality
Laser has many features, one of which is particularly good directional beam propagation ordinary spotlights produce a few hundred meters will be spread out in space, the laser beam travels hundreds of kilometers before there will be significant diffusion.
The second feature is the high brightness. Because the laser energy is concentrated in a narrow beam of nearly parallel, so a very high energy density, brightness up to a trillion times the brightness of the sun! If the powerful laser beam is irradiated onto an object coming together, you can make the illuminated portion of the object to produce tens of millions of degrees hot in less than a thousandth of a second of time, melt the hardest substance in this moment will vaporized. The use of laser energy characteristics of a large, we can use a laser beam to cut a variety of materials, weld metal and punch holes in hard materials. Undoubtedly, there must be on the battlefield laser arena.
Show their skills in combat
Laser in the war have long been strategic value applied early, in addition to laser-guided laser, the laser light is blinding. Blinding Laser known as the "eye-gouging technique", if the enemy is irradiated with a laser driver window, it will make a short blind pilots, causing the aircraft out of control, plane crash, if you use it to direct exposure to enemy gunners eyes, the enemy will lose the ability to fight, and since the war the soldiers do not know where the other laser weapons will appear when, often produce a heavy psychological pressure. Thus, blinding laser weapons and conventional weapons which do not have a deterrent effect. 1982 Falklands War, the British frigate on an aircraft carrier and various mounted on blinding laser weapons, had made Argentine planes out of control, crashed or strayed into the British shooting barrage.
In view of blinding laser weapons will allow soldiers permanently blind eye, but the cost of such weapons is very small, single person can operate, and range very far, harm is very large, so, in September 1995 the United Nations enacted a bill that permanently disabled of blinding laser weapons.
latest progress
The figure is a moving target in 2011 aboard the boat the Navy laser weapons testing. After the boat's engine was hit, burst into flames.
January 2013, the German Rheinmetall successfully developed a technique called "Skyguard" laser weapon system that can shoot down drones 3 kilometers away, you can also at 1 kilometer, the 1.5 cm thick steel plate cutting. Skyguard modeling simple, positive opening only three optical devices, two of which arranged side by side, a bit like human eyes. However, it's "eyes" very sharp, to track and destroy a 8.2 cm diameter pellets.
May 2013, Lockheed Martin announced that they developed a laser weapon on a 1.5 km distance, successfully destroyed eight free flight in a small-caliber rockets. In another experiment, they also laser weapons to shoot down drones 1.5 kilometers away. These experiments show that laser weapons as a defensive weapon at close range has been basically mature.
Research on laser weapons, our country does not lag behind, in November 2014, China successfully developed a called "low-level guards" laser system in the test, the low-level guards successfully shot down a fixed-wing, multi-rotor helicopter and other small More than 30 aircraft sorties, shot down 100%. The effective area of low-level guards escort of 12 square kilometers, to precisely intercept radius of two kilometers in 5 seconds, 360 degrees of airspace and other fixed-wing aircraft, with fast, accurate and silent, no collateral damage characteristics.
The speed of light attack
Laser weapons have obvious advantages, first of all, it is offensive to the speed of light, 300,000 kilometers per second to let the enemy off guard. For the offense, once the target to aim almost instantly be able to hit the target, we need to consider the amount in advance, enabling precision strike. And because the light is emitted, so it immune to electromagnetic interference.
Laser weapons can be almost instantaneous attack and unlimited emission, low launch costs, a missile up to several hundred thousand dollars, while the lowest cost energy laser weapons can be emitted each to $ 1.
It did not launch recoil, can quickly convert target, the flexibility to deal with multiple targets. In addition, the laser can also be required to adjust freely according to the size of the power.
Although the area of laser weapons to attack small, but it may choose to target the most vulnerable parts of the destruction, so as to achieve the overall damage, such as attack aircraft, tanks, warships of various optical instruments, navigation incoming missiles and other parts.
Ordinary weapons such as artillery, firing costly too, after multiple launch also lead to overheating of the barrel needs to be replaced, and laser weapons would not have this problem.
a fly in the ointment
Laser weapon is a distinctive weapon, have obvious advantages, disadvantages are also obvious. First, it is by lethal range is limited. The same laser weapons, when the range increases, due to the divergence of the laser beam is irradiated in a spot on the target increases, which leads to the power density is reduced, leading to reduced lethality.
Second, the laser can not work around the clock. When the laser beam is transmitted through the atmosphere, the atmosphere of a greater impact on the state of the laser. For example, atmospheric turbulence causes the laser beam generating jitter, scattering and displacement. Especially in rain, fog and other atmospheric conditions, as well as smoke on the battlefield smoke and other environmental and man-made, has a great influence on the lethal laser weapons. Military expert Zhang said. "Our country is the United States of haze laser weapons best defense", this argument is not just ridicule, but also a truth.
Although many laser weapons shortcomings, but as technology advances, the advantages of laser weapons have been slowly over its shortcomings, the modern high-tech naval warfare, the use of laser weapons to intercept and destroy a large number of low-altitude aircraft invasion, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, tactical sea-skimming cruise missiles and low altitude flight, etc., is gradually becoming a very good air defense means. Therefore, many countries, including my own, are racing to develop high-energy laser weapons. Given the volume of high-power laser weapons is still relatively large, the most suitable for installation on a warship, so shipboard air defense high-energy laser weapon system is currently targeted for priority development.
Prophecy burst, the future can be
Appears first laser beam from the world until now, the laser has gone through 50 years of history, when it had just been born when, according to some experts characteristics of the laser, have on television, the newspaper asserted: strong laser weapons can only in science fiction and science fiction movies, the real battle is not.
However, progress in science and technology, the laser power of bigger and bigger, which make up the many shortcomings of laser weapons, in large part, this is the main reason to embark on the battlefield laser weapons.
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