Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

Dev.SN ♥ developers

Commercial Jets Will Soon Be Firing Lasers

posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday March 05 2014, @07:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the throw-me-a-bone-here dept.

AnonTechie writes:

First Stop: Skyshield ... Next Stop: Skynet"

From an article in Wired:

Israel is finally ready to combat shoulder-launched missiles and they're going to do it with lasers. Israel's Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that SkyShield, developed by Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, had successfully completed testing and is certified for commercial use to combat the threat of man-portable surface-to-air missile systems (MANPADS) by combining advanced laser detection and disruption technologies.

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Commercial Jets Will Soon Be Firing Lasers | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 1000 moderator points   | 43 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by marcello_dl on Wednesday March 05 2014, @02:01PM

    by marcello_dl (2685) on Wednesday March 05 2014, @02:01PM (#11422)

    Indeed, I wonder what is the damage that a newfangled 50cal rifle, which I guess would not be much affected by laser jamming, would do to the light aircraft body.

    The more I think about it, the more the idea of taking down airplanes by putting people with explosives inside seem ridiculous, unless the suicides have a peculiar significance like some say [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 1) by egcagrac0 on Wednesday March 05 2014, @04:16PM

    by egcagrac0 (2705) on Wednesday March 05 2014, @04:16PM (#11496)

    I'm no expert, but I think that hitting an engine would be "bad"... but a tricky shot to make. FAA FOD standards [wikipedia.org] seem to suggest that taking out the engine wouldn't take out the aircraft (although a 50cal round isn't a chicken).

    Putting a half-inch hole in the fuel tank would be a significant annoyance, but I don't think it will take out the aircraft, just prompt an earlier-than-scheduled landing.

    Striking the fuselage wouldn't be good, but the aircraft is likely low enough that depressurization would be catastrophic. The projectile might strike a few passengers - again bad, but not so bad as taking out the whole plane full of passengers.

    • (Score: 1) by egcagrac0 on Wednesday March 05 2014, @05:32PM

      by egcagrac0 (2705) on Wednesday March 05 2014, @05:32PM (#11530)

      Argh, that should be "depressurization would not be catastrophic.