The Laser Avenger Zaps Its Target

The Laser Avenger Zaps Its Target
Late last month, the folks at Boeing test fired a Humvee-mounted laser that can be used to destroy IEDs and unexploded ordnance.

Boeing says the 1-kilowatt solid state laser took out five targets during a test shoot at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The laser was mated to an Avenger air defense vehicle, which usually fires Stinger anti-aircraft missile at low flying aircraft.

The company said the Laser Avenger also zapped two stationary UAVs sitting on the ground – a long way from proving the system can shoot down airborne drones, but still enough for Boeing to claim the laser could be used for UAVs on the move.

Whether it can blow up flying robots is superfluous at this point. Typical IED disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan is a very high risk proposition, requiring a technician to place charges on the bomb, use a robot to do it or a mechanical arm. I know from experience that one insurgent technique is to allow the EOD personnel to deploy to Buffalo arm on an IED, then detonate it, blowing the complex and vulnerable hydraulic arm off and rendering the vehicle useless.

Boeing wouldn’t say how far away the laser works, but even if it’s a little further than the range of a robot or a Buffalo arm, it could be a better solution than today’s options.


Rest of article and comments at: http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003791.html?wh=wh



uhc comment: Chief B.'s comment is pretty much on the money.


I rather fancied myself as fairly well immunized but, hey, I won't hesitate to say I'm still just an ignorant sod.

If I apprehend your meaning, then no, I don't like it one damned bit when we skylarking with blood and treasure. Which is probably why I hit terminal paygrade so early. The Boys Club don't cotton to upstarts who foul the deck and ruin their chances to suck at the teat for the rest of their lives. Eyes closed, mouths puckered, and content with never another passing thought about the military-industrial sow suckling them.

We've got a damned fine military that can whip the snot outta anyone, anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately the political and military leadership does the halfstep most of the time with CNN, the UN, and MoveOn.org calling the cadence.

How we arrived at the intersection of Gutless Ave and Stupid Street is pretty clear. Ike warned us fifty years ago. Why we did it is less so. But here we are, scratching our heads, fiddling the buttons on the GPS, calling OnStar, and listening to the satellite radio telling us about the latest gadget. And we'll go around the block, buy a few more billion bucks in crap from Boeing, and arrive at the same intersection more confused than ever about just where the hell it is that we're going.

So, no, they don't like assholes like me who say "Nice laser. Don't need it."

Cheers,
Chief B.