The Starfire: U.S. Laser Weapon Research
The U.S. government is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive.
The laser research… would take advantage of an optical technique that uses sensors, computers and flexible mirrors to counteract the atmospheric turbulence that seems to make stars twinkle. The weapon would essentially reverse that process, shooting focused beams of light upward with great clarity and force. Via Defense Tech, also read the NY Times article - “Administration Conducting Research into Laser Weapons”
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[…] The U.S. military has really been ‘lasering’ it up lately. And there latest laser escapade is the world’s first firing of a laser using recycled fuel. The project was conducted by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate and Boeing. The success of the tests suggest a major breakthrough for lasers in general and for affordable and low risk military weapons applications. […]
October 5th, 2006 at 12:57 am