At 4:05 AM 4/26/96, Bill Frantz wrote:

...

Moreover, a laser shot costs $3,000, compared to several million dollars for a missile. Army officials envision the Nautilus would be beamed from a truck capable of firing 50 shots before requiring more laser material.

Does anyone have any idea what "more laser material" means?

Sure, most high-power lasers like this are chemical lasers, consuming reactive materials. (This is not the same as "gas lasers," a la the early CO2 lasers. And of course ruby and Nd-YAG lasers are not what is meant here, either.) P.S. I don't place much faith in laser weaponry. Some obvious countermeasures are: spin the projectile to minimize heating of any one spot, determine the wavelength of the planned laser and coat the projectile with a suitably reflective coating, apply ablative layers that can burn off without harm, etc. Such countermeasures are of course well-known to the laser builders, but they still make the game much tougher. All a matter of attack and counter-attack, and the costs of each. Like castles and siege engines. Or like crypto. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."