‘It’s exciting to see this technology mature enough to embed in an aircraft. [More]Yep.
So what do you think the predisposition toward We the People will be when it "matures" even further and becomes standard "in common use at the time" infantry issue?
[Via Jess]
3 comments:
I don't think we will need to worry about a laser infantry weapon any time soon. The power requirements for a directed energy weapon pretty much preclude a man-portable weapon at least for the near term. Plus the counter measures are fairly simple for field use. A laser is just a beam of light - OK a concentrated beam of light but still at its core it is just a beam of light. A shiny surface will reflect it - or at least reflect enough of it to protect whatever is behind the mirror. Even shiny metal should do the trick. Think about what fog or smoke does to any light beam.
I would be more worried about a man-portable rail gun or electro-magnetic pellet launcher. Even something the size of a BB moving at a couple of miles/sec. is gonna pack a wallop. Of course it's gonna have a pretty fair amount of recoil, too.
True, I'm speculating about an unknown future.But I was alive back when computers that would not do a fraction of what my cell phone will filled a room. And 20 years ago or so I wrote about such weapons in development that no way would have fit into a fighter jet. So I have no problem imagining when my sons are my age such capabilities will be well on their way to actualization. I recall a saying that a battle isn't won until men with rifles occupy and control the field, and consider someone probably once thought something similar about men with spears.
Oh, we'll get our hands on them eventually. One way or another.
Post a Comment