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re: Aside from lasers
ER — (archived)

Shooting this thing down is not a problem, the Phalanx could do that. The problem is detecting it, identifying it, tracking it and then targeting it, all which must be done automatically, in sequence, and with autonomous equipment operated and maintained by teenagers. The weapon, by the way, is loaded with defensive devices and varies its behavior in random ways just to confuse you and your equipment. It is designed and operated by people just as smart and dedicated as you are. And all this happens in one of the most unforgiving and changing environments on earth, the interface between the ocean and atmosphere, with all kinds of possible sea, illumination, weather and climatic conditions, when you're already just sort of panic and busy doing a bunch of other things, and often with no warning. Add to this that ships are cramped, overcrowded, and filled with lethal interlinked systems competing with each other for attention and resources. Think of all the management and command problems we've already had in real combat situations, submarine collisions, accidental airliner shootdowns, friendly fire, communications foul-ups. A ship in combat is like a barely controlled ongoing industrial accident.

This weapon is not going to make aircraft carriers obsolete, any more than the airplane immediately made battleships obsolete, but it will make carriers more vulnerable and less useful, and commanders will lose some of their operational freedom because they will be forced to take additional precautions. There is no technological fix for this, it's just the nature and evolution of warfare.

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