It would be far less limited... but of course being on the ocean you want your projection optics as high up as possible to get range, but since they expect the ABL to stand off and kill ICBMs at a large distance You should be able to deliver over a MUCH larger range than any ballistic system. And while evasive manuevering by the missile at such speeds would throw a ballistic system off due to transit time, it would mean nothing to a laser (except in the time it takes to recalculate a new firing solution). If the missile zigs and zags even slightly a ballistic defense will always be playing catchup because bullets are slow.... not neccessarily the case with a laser.
It wouldnt be cheap, but then how much does an aircraft carrier cost to begin with- according to wikipedia, about 4.5 billion dollars, then factor in the aircraft, and people and strategic importance. The cost of such a system, once developed, would be worth it... especially when you factor in that it could be used against a lot more than just missiles- it could be used in MANY other ways. Heck, if you want to give up enough space you could put one on a carrier that could blind/destroy spy sats- (Not exaggerating at all here).
An individual laser might not be able to fire often, but when it did it could do a lot- maybe consider it a weapon of last resort or for special ops... Actually, the more I think about it the better an idea it seems- I still think the ABL's stated purpose is silly, but THIS implementation could really have serious uses.
Current Events » in reply to re: Lasers
Oh, it would not be anything like the ABL system....
The whole thread (54 posts)
- Naval warfare bulletin
- There are at least two major weak spots in the missile design.
- 3rd weakness
- What about reactive armor?
- Maybe
- No...
- It all depends on how much momentum change is required to detonate the missile.
- You missed my point by a mile. (n/t)
- It all depends on how much momentum change is required to detonate the missile.
- Ultrasonic or microwave emitters might work.
- No...
- Maybe
- What about reactive armor?
- re: There are at least two major weak spots in the missile design.
- Kind of hard to get anything past a phalanx.
- 3rd weakness
- re: Naval warfare bulletin
- We need a World Peace Accord
- There are at least two major weak spots in the missile design.