UK eyes frikkin' Laser Directed Energy Weapon The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) is considering several contenders to supply a Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) for evaluation as part of a programme which could "ultimately could see the MOD fund a full-up programme to buy defensive laser weapon system". According to this report, companies …
We had 4 of these to protect against rocket/mortar attacks at Basra, Iraq. They're damn effective bits of kit, once calibrated they were getting a 90% kill rate, even on the 90mm jobbies. Interestingly the rounds the phalanx fires are set to explode after a certain period of time to prevent them from landing again in downtown Basra. This meant a farty sound when they fired and a popcorn popping sound a few seconds later. Plus at night they made pretty lights... oooo pretty.
Now add a Big frikken laser!
Generally ship to ship warfare tended to err towards moderate swell at worse. In storms the changes of you hitting anything but water made it a waste of time.
Nowadays though we have all-weather missiles, they probably still suffer from missing vessels in a storm or having the sea skimming missiles hit by large waves but at least you're more likely to hit what you aim at since the moving platform element is removed.
Where is Lewis Page when you need him?
He's writing books, it seems. I really ought to give him a call.
Much better vid was taken during some weapon trials where the goalkeeper was taking 4.5" shells out in mid flight, much better than poncy sea skimmers doing 600mph or some drone doing 100 mph.
Just need to add a dollop of AI and take the human operator out of the loop (although the gun will do that itself shortly after it becomes self-aware)
If I recall correctly, the Royal Navy first ordered the Phalanx system in a panic during the Falklands episode, when they discovered that their air defence systems (Sea Dart and Sea Wolf) were close to bloody useless. Sea Dart only worked against high level targets, while Sea Wolf was a 'hittile' which required the damn thing to actually hit a small fast-flying object, with no proximity-fuse option. Then along came Exocet.
"If I recall correctly.... Sea Dart only worked against high level targets...." Read, digest, recall accurate information next time - http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Sea_Dart_(missile), http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Sea_Wolf_(missile). Please note the bit about how, during the Gulf War, an RN Sea Dart saved USS Missouri from an Iraqi Silkworm missile after the USN's Phalanx was fooled by their own chaff. The RN decided they preferred Goalkeeper to Phalanx as Goalkeeper's 30mm shells are much more likely to destroy an incoming missile with one hit than Phalanx's 20mm shells.
(supplementary) ... and also the Sea Wolf demonstrated successful, sea-borne, interception of a small fast object, to whit a 4.5 inch shell, during development trials.
Not that you would want to be in a combat situation requiring the expenditure of a missile versus expenditure of a shell, of course.
but if my understanding is correct Phalanx has never shot down an actual missile fired by actual baddies at sea.
Shooting down even artillery shells from a stable land-based platform is a lot simpler than hitting a sea-skimming missile from a platform that is rolling, heaving and pitching. Soft kill apparently works better (decoying, jamming, spoofing). There is an explicable logic as to why this should be so. The ship will always have access to much more computing and electrical power than can be put into a small missile, so the ship should always be able to use that to out-think or simply overpower the missile. This also eliminates the issue of the missile being a much smaller target than the ship. The caveat is that the ship systems have to be continually updated to deal with the current threat. Anyway I'm sure Phalanx is good for morale.
Phalanx might be a slightly too-small a calibre, but a warship needs a gun to put a shot across the bows of a ship that doesn't stop. It's something that still works, though the usual minimum is a 40mm Bofors, rather than 30mm. I wonder what a laser pulse hitting the sea would do.
I wonder what a laser pulse hitting the sea would do.
Not a lot? Possibly light it up briefly but that depends on the frequency.
Despite the kid in me I'm rather dubious of "laser weapons" because unless the amount of energy output through the laser is very high, the beam width is very narrow or the beam is held resolutely in place on a single spot on the target then generally not a lot is going to happen.
"....rather dubious of "laser weapons"...." Indeed, their use so far seems to be primarily as a means of missile guidance, but they have also been used to dazzle the pilots of attacking planes. One interesting development is the US's Pike "personal missile", which is a 40mm, 2Lb missile launched from the standard M320 40mm grenade-launcher and laser-guided out to ranges of over 2km.
"Shooting down even artillery shells from a stable land-based platform is a lot simpler"
How so? Surely an artillery shell is ballistic (unpowered and following a pre-determined flight path) so to stop it you have to divert it (it's a lot bigger than your puny 20mm shalls), or annihilate it completely leaving no mass left.
Shooting down a missile simply requires making it's rocket stop operating. Somewhat simpler but a harder target to hit as it's going far faster than an artillery shell.
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