US fighter jets to get fricken lasers

[VladTepes]

So goes the headline...

Bogey on your six? DARPA can help with that.

In what one can only assume is the first step towards developing a fully functional fleet of Star Destroyers, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has recently announced that it is looking to test fighter jets equipped with laser turrets as early as 2014. Lockheed Martin won the $9.5 million contract from DARPA and is currently working on phase three of the Aero-Adaptive/Aero-Optic Beam Control project, which would allow tactical aircraft to fire mounted lasers, through extreme turbulence, at enemies coming from behind.

As seen in picture above, DARPA is also developing the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), a smaller, lighter, infinitely more terrifying iteration of the agency’s earlier laser cannon outing, the Airborne Laser Testbed, which was so cumbersome it could not be mounted on anything smaller than a Boeing 747. HELLADS’s strength lies in it versatility: the system can be utilized for both air and ground combat situations. According to DARPA:

With a weight goal of less than five kilograms per kilowatt, and volume of three cubic meters for the laser system, HELLADS seeks to enable high-energy lasers to be integrated onto tactical aircraft, significantly increasing engagement ranges compared to ground-based systems.

So if you've been struggling to find the perfect gift for the Rebel princess who has everything this Valentine's Day, HELLADS would be a lovely addition to Hoth's Echo Base, in the eventuality of an Imperial invasion. Oh, wait.

Read more: US fighter jets to get fricken lasers | Information, Gadgets, Mobile Phones News & Reviews | News.com.au

which is fine except they illustrate the article with the caption :

Sci-fi fantasies are coming true. Scarily true. By next year US fighter jets will be equipped with lasers, the military has announced

and picture...


which, far from being a US fighter jet is actually a Tupolev Tu-160.

[Eevo]

just make the plane out of mirrors and it will defect the "laser"

[Lotz-A-Landies]

So goes the headline...

Lockheed Martin won the $9.5 million contract from DARPA and is currently working on phase three of the Aero-Adaptive/Aero-Optic Beam Control project, which would allow tactical aircraft to fire mounted lasers, through extreme turbulence, at enemies coming from behind.

which is fine except they illustrate the article with the caption :
and picture...


which, far from being a US fighter jet is actually a Tupolev Tu-160.

And the photoshoped TU-160 has a forward firing laser!

[VladTepes]

I was wrong... it's actually a B-1 (note the canards).

but it's still not a fighter so... maybe I was half right ?

[101RRS]

Are you sure that is a TU-160 and not a Boeing B1 Lance. From a distance they look so similar it is not funny. The obvious difference is with the Boeing the body ends at the tail where the TU-160 body extends further than the tail. It is not totally clear on the pic.

Garry

[VladTepes]

check post previous to yours ! Yep that and the canards....

[clubagreenie]

Maybe it's being fired on and you can't see the firee ahead?

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Still it's more like a fighter than the previous laser firing jet!

[AndrewGJones]

so when do the general american public get to buy some? surely if all the teachers had "lasers" (cue; Dr Evil impersonation) all will be well in the schools. Oh, that right, the killers can be 100 frickin' miles away now... with their 2nd amendment rights, i'm amazed they need even need armed forces...

[goingbush]

Why bother at All ,
Dont the North Koreans have a Satellite that can fire Laser from Space.