Northrop Grumman: Laser guns.

[Octopus]

I bet this becomes standard for regular commercial airliners some day. Lasers are cool.

...now installed or scheduled for installation on several hundred military aircraft to protect about 48 different types of large fixed-wing transports and rotary-wing platforms from infrared missile attacks.

http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/s ... ily11.html

[Dedman]

That has been in the works for commercial aviation for years.

[Krom]

I read an article just last week about the how the Navy is going to test out a solid state laser system in the next 12-18 months. The article said the output would be up to 105 kilowatts. They would shine the laser at low power on to a boat that is getting too close as a warning, and if they don't back off then they turn up the power and start roasting them...

Although the main thing they wanted to test was how well such a system would work in typical conditions on the oceans, including through mist and fog. It could have other potential uses as well, such as shooting down incoming missiles, or sending a light signal... to the moon

[snoopy]

...or sending a light signal... to the moon

You know you can already do that, right? One of the things that the astronauts left was a reflector that would bounce a laser back at the source. If you have powerful enough of a laser, proper interferometry equipment, and know where to point it, (There are web sites out there that will tell you) you can measure the distance to the moon, and in the process prove that people really did make it there.

I'm not convinced about the commercial airline application. from what I read it's pretty much an anti-missile weapon- what would commercial airliners need that for? I think it'd be a waste of money to put them on commercial planes.

[edit] and by "strong enough of a laser" I mean something in the normal "high power" range that isn't close to being weapons-grade.

[dissent]

way to go Scotty! Now would you get the warp drive back on line, please????

...or sending a light signal... to the moon

You know you can already do that, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Lase ... Experiment

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/ ... ments/lrr/

[Lothar]

This is JV compared to ABL. Shooting down tactical missiles FTW!

[Octopus]

snoopy... In the future everything will have lasers.

[Nightshade]

Even sharks with lasers attached to their heads.