Is the army considering using lasers mounted on tanks to counter the increasingly dangerous anti-tank missiles? Or is this just a popular science fiction fantasy?
Just thought this article was pretty funny... HRWAP
As for your question, in theory it's possibly to shoot a laser strong enough to destroy a warhead in flight (ABL's purpose) But i'd imagine the powersupply and fast tracking systems needed would be too large to make the tank useful for very much else. I've worked in IRCM systems that defeated IR missiles for aircraft. There were some decently large and somewhat hefty boxes needed to run the system, and the transmitter itself was definatly no small ordeal. It didn't even destroy the missile, so you still have a projectile rocketing towards you, but a plane's moving fast enough to get out of the way atleast.
As for lasers being used to defend tanks...yes, but not like you're thinking. Some of the most effective guided munitions deployed today use lasers to guide them to their targets. Lasers for defense aren't practical as directed energy weapons. There are alot of reasons for this, which I won't go into here. What is somewhat practical is to spoof the guidance system with a laser that imitates the targeting laser. This has been done, with debatable effectiveness. The Russians, in particular, have been making some very interesting advances in this technology for at least 10 years. The US, on the other hand, has been fairly stagnant up until very recently.
In general, there are two types of countermeasures systems.
Hard kill implies physical destruction of the target, or parts of the target. Frying optics on a missile or targeting system, or destroying missiles in flight is hard kill.
Soft kill degrades the effectiveness of the target system. Jamming a guidance system, or providing dummy targets is soft kill.
The US military (via government labs, and commercial contractors) is researching both approaches. Hard kill systems require more power than soft kill ones, and are probably less likely to be mounted on land vehicles within the next 5 years or so. Hard kill systems targeting guidance optics are likely to be fielded first, as they are smaller and require less power than systems designed to vaporize missiles (or parts thereof).
This new non lethal truck mounted laser. Can someone explain why, if we have a working model and its proved itself to work as intended (to create a slight burning sensation on human skin), then why aren't we making them now? Why do we have to wait until the year 2010 before this life saving device is in the hands of our military and law inforcment units?
Why not go with a Phalanx or RAM style sytem but on a smaller scale. Close in Weapons Systems have been service for many years in the Navy and are very accurate, trust me. They would increase the weight and power requirements for a tank. It would need protection, mostly for the RADAR, laser, and/or optic tracking system. Maybe some sort of retractable Platform. It needs to be something you can remove for service and replacement, as well as reload in the field. Laser systems current require too much room and a small nuclear reactor, not to mention that's not something you want on the ground. You might as well hand over the techknowlegy to the enemy. What I propose is realistic and uses techknowlegy that's been in service for many decades.
