The Incredible Challenge Of Destroying A Missile With Lasers
Audio Brief
Show transcript
This episode covers the history of light as a weapon, tracing its evolution from ancient concepts to modern military applications, particularly the development and challenges of laser technology.
There are four key takeaways from this discussion.
The concept of energy weapons is ancient, but modern technology has finally made lasers a battlefield reality.
Laser weapons have evolved from indirect support roles to direct-fire systems capable of destroying targets.
Significant physical and environmental challenges continue to limit laser weapon effectiveness and range.
Current military development focuses on smaller, tactical lasers for countering low-cost threats like drones and mortars.
The idea of focused light as a weapon dates back to the Archimedes Heat Ray. However, the invention of the laser in 1960 marked the true beginning of modern directed energy weapons.
Early laser applications included range-finding and targeting. Now, high-energy directed energy weapons, or DEWs, can directly damage or destroy targets. The development of blinding dazzlers also led to international protocols on their use.
Despite advancements, laser weapons face hurdles like atmospheric interference from rain, fog, and turbulence, which degrade the beam. They also require immense power, and thermal blooming can cause the laser to self-defocus.
The focus has shifted from ambitious strategic defense systems to more practical tactical lasers. These smaller systems efficiently counter drones, mortars, and small boats, offering a cost-effective solution against numerous low-cost threats.
After decades of experimentation, the era of theoretical laser weapons has definitively ended, with deployed systems becoming a reality.
Episode Overview
- The episode traces the history of using light as a weapon, from ancient concepts like the Archimedes Heat Ray to modern military applications.
- It covers the invention of the laser in 1960 and the subsequent development of high-powered laser systems for both industrial and military use.
- The video explains the different types of military lasers, including blinding weapons ("dazzlers") and high-energy directed energy weapons (DEWs).
- It details the significant technical challenges facing laser weapons, such as atmospheric interference, power requirements, and the need for sophisticated tracking systems.
Key Concepts
- Archimedes Heat Ray: An ancient, hypothetical weapon that used mirrors to focus sunlight to set enemy ships on fire.
- Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs): A class of weapons that use highly focused energy, such as lasers, to damage or destroy targets.
- Laser Blinding Weapons & Dazzlers: Non-lethal or less-lethal lasers designed to temporarily or permanently blind enemy combatants or disable optical sensors. Their use is now regulated by international protocol.
- Tactical vs. Strategic Lasers: The focus of laser weapon development has shifted from large, ambitious strategic defense systems (like those for ballistic missiles) to more practical, smaller tactical systems for countering drones, mortars, and small boats.
- Technical Challenges: Key limitations include the need for line-of-sight, atmospheric effects (rain, fog, turbulence) that degrade the beam, the immense power required, and the phenomenon of "thermal blooming" where the laser heats the air and defocuses itself.
Quotes
- At 01:41 - "Because relatively low energy levels could permanently blind combatants, their use led to the Protocol on Laser Blinding Weapons in 1995." - This quote explains the international legal and ethical response to the development of a specific type of laser weapon.
- At 02:12 - "Laser systems that directly used highly focused light as a ranged weapon to damage a target are part of a class of arms known as Directed Energy Weapons or DEWs." - This provides a clear definition of the primary technology discussed in the video.
- At 15:05 - "For decades the promise of laser weapons remained largely in the realm of experimentation. That era has now definitively ended." - This concluding statement summarizes the transition of laser weapons from theoretical concepts to real-world, deployed systems.
Takeaways
- The concept of energy weapons is ancient, but modern technology, starting with the first laser in 1960, has finally made them a reality on the battlefield.
- Laser weapons have evolved from indirect support roles (like range-finding and targeting) to direct-fire systems capable of destroying targets.
- Despite progress, significant physical and environmental challenges, such as atmospheric distortion and immense power needs, still limit the effectiveness and range of laser weapons.
- The current trend in military development is focused on smaller, cost-effective tactical lasers for countering low-cost threats like drones and mortars, fundamentally changing the economics of modern warfare.
