|
How to Melt a Tank in Three Seconds Or Less - Battlestar Hercules
Coming soon to a battlefield near you? Heres what they are planning on from Popular Science: 1. Find Your Target When the C-130 flies within targeting range (up to five miles away), the gunner aims using a rotating video camera mounted beneath the fuselage. The computer locks onto the object to continually track it. A second crew member precisely adjusts the laser beams strengthhigher power to disable vehicles, lower power to knock out, say, a small power generator. The gunner hits fire, and the computer takes over from there. 2. Heat Up the Laser In a fraction of a second, chlorine gas mixes with hydrogen peroxide. The resulting chemical reaction creates highly energetic oxygen molecules. Pressurized nitrogen pushes the oxygen through a fine mist of iodine, transferring the oxygens energy to iodine molecules, which shed it in the form of intense light. 3. Amplify the Beam The optical resonator bounces this light between mirrors, forcing more iodine molecules to cough up their photons, further increasing the laser beams intensity. From there, the light travels through a sealed pipe above the weapons crew station and into a chamber called the optical bench. There, sensors determine the beams quality, while mechanically controlled mirrors compensate for movement of the airplane, vibration and atmospheric conditions. Precise airflow regulates the chambers temperature and humidity, which helps keep the beam strong. 4. Stand Clear A kind of reverse telescope called the beam expander inside a retractable, swiveling pod called the turret widens the beam to 20 inches and aims it. The lasers computer determines the distance to the target and adjusts the beam so it condenses into a focused point at just the right spot. Tracking computers help make microscopic adjustments to compensate for both the airplanes and the targets movement. A burst of a few seconds duration will burn a several-inch-wide hole in whatever it hits. Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2008-12-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=256569 |