Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at Farnborough Airshow if it can be modified for ducks, or even if it can't, i want one! can anyone loan me a few bucks to finance upgrading me to Bond Villian status?
The laser I used on the aircraft I used to fly was pretty powerful. Although using lasers to shoot down UAVs could be considered a crime.
Contrary to popular belief, most drones are used for surveillance. Not counting RC's, there aren't too many privately owned UAVs flying around US airspace.
Only if allowed by the FAA. Although UAVs have been around for a long time, the management of them is still in its infancy and quickly evolving. Most UAVs flown would probably be flown in military airspace or, if they meet the proper requirements, fly in certain classes of airspace, but most of those would be Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated (GOCO) who work for and supply the military.
If I lived in Afghanistan and had pesky UAV's hovering over my village, I'd shoot them down too. A UAV flying overhead can be just a prelude to a long distance guided cruise missile raining down on someone the US military "suspects" is a terrorist.
God how I love the press. They are almost all so universally ignorant it is good for a laugh. For one, this is not an "Anti-Aircraft LASER", it is a CIWS system. Like the Army's C-RAM program, it is a last-point defense system, designed to take out missiles, mortars, and artillery. And like the conventional CIWS, it is very short range. CIWS today is basically a 20mm Vulcan Gatling Gun, with a range of around 3km. That's it. And the range for this LASER CIWS is probably about the same, a couple of KM at most. So yea, it could be used to take down a drone. You could do the exact same thing with an M-2 .50 cal as well, if you can see it. But although the CIWS can be used to take out aircraft, I would not consider it an "Anti-Aircraft Weapon". Personally, I mostly yawn at things like this when they make the news. Yea, it is moderately newsworthy, but really not all that important at this time.
Yeah...that's not exactly accurate. And we don't just launch cruise missiles on suspects. Being both a former UAV Operator and All Source Intelligence Analyst I know that the process isn't something willy-nilly or based on assumptions.
