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Monday, March 09, 2015 10:36:56 AM
Lockheed Martin Creates Laser That Can Disable A Truck In Seconds From More Than A Mile Away
By Dominique Mosbergen
03/06/2015 12:59 pm EST
Defense and aerospace company Lockheed Martin announced this week that its new fiber-optic laser weapon system, dubbed ATHENA (Advanced Test High Energy Asset), successfully took out a small truck “from more than a mile away” during a recent field test.
The ATHENA system uses a technique called "spectral beam combining," which involves merging multiple laser modules to create a single and super-powerful 30-kilowatt laser beam. The system is described as having the “highest power ever documented by a laser weapon of its type."
“To put that in perspective, the laser in an everyday pointer might be about 1 milliwatt, or 3 million times less,” said Motherboard.
The truck had been resting on props for the field test, but its engine and drivetrain were reportedly running to simulate a real vehicle threat. The laser is said to have disabled the truck’s engine in a “matter of seconds.”
Engadget writes:
Rather than causing the engine to explode, as per Hollywood, the truck was simply rendered unable to move. Reading between the lines, perhaps Lockheed believes that the gear will be a useful, potentially non-lethal precaution against explosive vehicles being driven, at speed, towards infrastructure points, guard towers or military bases.
http://tinyurl.com/qd2e6h8
Keoki Jackson, chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin, said in a statement that the ATHENA test “represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged laser weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/laser-weapon-system-lockheed-martin-disables-truck_n_6813956.html
By Dominique Mosbergen
03/06/2015 12:59 pm EST
Defense and aerospace company Lockheed Martin announced this week that its new fiber-optic laser weapon system, dubbed ATHENA (Advanced Test High Energy Asset), successfully took out a small truck “from more than a mile away” during a recent field test.
The ATHENA system uses a technique called "spectral beam combining," which involves merging multiple laser modules to create a single and super-powerful 30-kilowatt laser beam. The system is described as having the “highest power ever documented by a laser weapon of its type."
“To put that in perspective, the laser in an everyday pointer might be about 1 milliwatt, or 3 million times less,” said Motherboard.
The truck had been resting on props for the field test, but its engine and drivetrain were reportedly running to simulate a real vehicle threat. The laser is said to have disabled the truck’s engine in a “matter of seconds.”
Engadget writes:
Rather than causing the engine to explode, as per Hollywood, the truck was simply rendered unable to move. Reading between the lines, perhaps Lockheed believes that the gear will be a useful, potentially non-lethal precaution against explosive vehicles being driven, at speed, towards infrastructure points, guard towers or military bases.
http://tinyurl.com/qd2e6h8
Keoki Jackson, chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin, said in a statement that the ATHENA test “represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged laser weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/laser-weapon-system-lockheed-martin-disables-truck_n_6813956.html
Dan 
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