[Nuke]

seeing as this is one of those solid state lasers, i dont think power is an issue, especially on ships with onboard nuclear reactors. you can bet that any vessel's reactor(s) can put out way more power than the ship requires.

[NGTM-1R]

seeing as this is one of those solid state lasers, i dont think power is an issue, especially on ships with onboard nuclear reactors. you can bet that any vessel's reactor(s) can put out way more power than the ship requires.

The only surface ships in the modern US Navy with nuclear reactors are the carriers. We sent the CGNs to the scrapyard years ago, sadly. (And probably stupidly.)

[Kosh]

Mirrors will not stop lasers. They will slow them down (maybe) but will always, always burn away or simply be destroyed in the first hit. No mirror is 100% efficient and the fraction of energy that gets through is enough.

Lasers can't penetrate the shields of the USS Enterprise.

[The E]

Yes, because a CVN has somewhat more substantial armor than your average fighter. Still, you could probably do some damage to its superstructure with a laser....

As scifitastic as this topic is, let's keep it real, shall we?

[NGTM-1R]

Yes, because a CVN has somewhat more substantial armor than your average fighter. Still, you could probably do some damage to its superstructure with a laser....

CVN are perhaps the only ship you can't mission-kill by wrecking their radars, weirdly enough.

[Kosh]

Yes, because a CVN has somewhat more substantial armor than your average fighter. Still, you could probably do some damage to its superstructure with a laser....

As scifitastic as this topic is, let's keep it real, shall we?

I wasn't referring to that enterprise.

[The E]

You may not have noticed this, but we're not talking about fictional ships here.

[General Battuta]

Mirrors will not stop lasers. They will slow them down (maybe) but will always, always burn away or simply be destroyed in the first hit. No mirror is 100% efficient and the fraction of energy that gets through is enough.

Lasers can't penetrate the shields of the USS Enterprise.

Yes but...they aren't mirrors.

[Kosh]

You may not have noticed this, but we're not talking about fictional ships here.

You may not have noticed that lasers have a time honored place in science fiction, allowing for jokes like that for people like you to misinterpret.

[General Battuta]

You may not have noticed this, but we're not talking about fictional ships here.

You may not have noticed that lasers have a time honored place in science fiction, allowing for jokes like that for people like you to misinterpret.

Your delivery needs some work.

[Flipside]

I do suppose one concern is the fact that, as planes themselves get more and more stealthy, weapons like this rely on the ability to detect them. Admittedly, at this moment in time that's fine, there are only very few countries with stealth tech, but I personally can see reactionary defences being more of a role-player in future warfare than long-range ones.

[Kosh]

Overtime someone will figure out a way to crack stealth. Nothing reigns supreme forever.

[Nuke]

stealth isnt fool proof, they still have to navigate around radar stations, you wouldn't dare fly over one, even in a stealth fighter. stealth also isnt cheap and can sometimes be detrimental to performance.

[Kosh]

stealth isnt fool proof, they still have to navigate around radar stations, you wouldn't dare fly over one, even in a stealth fighter. stealth also isnt cheap and can sometimes be detrimental to performance.

Or just wait until someone invents a new detection method not involving radar or ir.

[General Battuta]

The Russians have two-meter-band VHF radar that can probably defeat stealth.

[Snail]

The Russians have two-meter-band VHF radar that can probably defeat stealth.

You mean Steel Yard?

[NGTM-1R]

The Russians have two-meter-band VHF radar that can probably defeat stealth.

Two meter band is getting so large missiles might not even register consistantly.

[General Battuta]

The Russians have two-meter-band VHF radar that can probably defeat stealth.

Two meter band is getting so large missiles might not even register consistantly.

They're quite confident that stealth aircraft will appear as beachball-sized targets, and apparently the physics backs them up.

[NGTM-1R]

They're quite confident that stealth aircraft will appear as beachball-sized targets, and apparently the physics backs them up.

Oh, I don't doubt stealth aircraft will show up reliably, but two meter wavelength is longer than some missiles, so I'm not sure the radar's much use for anything else.

[Klaustrophobia]

The Russians have two-meter-band VHF radar that can probably defeat stealth.

Two meter band is getting so large missiles might not even register consistantly.

They're quite confident that stealth aircraft will appear as beachball-sized targets, and apparently the physics backs them up.

physics theory backs up TONS of **** that doesn't actually work in the real world.  not saying it won't, but it's not assured.