Air Force Turns 747 Into Holster for Giant Laser (washingtonpost.com)

[Eugene Leitl]

On Mon, 23 Jul 2001, Jim Choate wrote:

> Maybe. But even mirrors can be burned through by a laser. And then we've

Jim, why are you trying so hard to make a complete fool out of yourself,
in a public forum?

A chemical laser needs active optics to track your remote target. What do
you think that optics is made from, unobtainium? Do you understand basic
laws of optics? I recommend purchasing a 15 W laser (and a pair of
matching protection goggles), and then use it to ignite a match from a
close distance, and then over a few km, preferably during summer in your
native Texas. You could target the beam towards a projection wall, and
watch it with a pair of binoculars. It will be quite instructive.

> got weight issues that this would entail. It's not like they've got a lot
> of overhead for the job. I suspect that faceting wouldn't be any more
> effective than a smoothly round body form, it could have aerodynamic
> effects as well (ie sharp corners at the facet edges - and yes they could
> be rounded - now you're moving back toward a round rocket planform).

High albedo coating of the missile is *cheap*. Powerful lasers are that
not, especially if you need to have several of them online in an area.

-- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204/">leitl</a>
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