The laser-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition made its combat debut in Iraq earlier this month, the Air Force announced Wednesday.
The 500-pound bomb, also known as the GBU-54, joined the war when an F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Balad, used it to strike a moving enemy vehicle in Diyala province. The pilot was working with a joint terminal attack controller on the ground.
Canada. Armed with legal advice that the systems can be classified as warning devices, the Canadian military wants to proceed with the purchase of laser weapons designed to temporarily blind people.
But a group opposed to the purchase of the equipment says any use of the so-called “laser dazzlers” in Afghanistan violates international law and sets a dangerous precedent. Read more…
What happens when a high-power laser weapon strikes human flesh? This is the topic addressed in a paper for the Air Force office of Scientific Research with the title, “Laser Induced Shock Waves and Vaporization in Biological Systems.” It’s all about computer modeling the effects of laser pulses:
In order to cause damage to the absorbing material, the electromagnetic energy of the laser pulse must be converted to thermo-mechanical energy. We have developed a computational model that allows the calculation of damage resulting from a laser pulse of any duration or energy due to temperature rise, explosive bubble formation, and shock wave production. We have discovered that the system exhibits chaotic dynamics….
We also discovered resonant effects in laser absorption and damage that allow the duration between pulses to be tuned to channel a greater or lesser fraction of the absorbed energy into shockfront and bubble production. This allows the delivery of large amounts of laser energy to produce strong thermal effects while suppressing unwanted pressure effects, or vice versa.
Boeing Co says it is making “smart” bombs even smarter, able to go after moving targets in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The company said last week it started shipping new laser seeker add-ons designed to use laser energy reflected from a target to guide a bomb to what is supposed to be a pinpoint hit, even as the target moves.
The first so-called Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition, or LJDAM, kits were delivered to the Air Force under a $28 million contract for 600 kits awarded in May 2007.
The upgrade adds a relatively low-cost laser sensor to the nose of a JDAM-equipped bomb, a mainstay weapon of the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the Pentagon’s No. 2 supplier by sales.
Defense contractor, Northrop Grumman — maker of a system to protect planes from shoulder-fired missiles, is trying to tap a market that bridges the military and civilian worlds.
The anti-missile systems work by detecting incoming missiles and emitting an eye-safe laser beam that interferes with the missiles’ guidance system and deflects the missile away from the plane.
Israel has decided against buying a U.S.-produced anti-rocket laser for the border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip because of the device’s poor performance in field tests, a top Israeli defence official said on Monday.
Israeli state arms firm Rafael is developing Iron Dome, which is designed to shoot down Palestinian rockets from Gaza with miniature missiles, but that system is not expected to be operational before 2010.
According Danger Room, Northrop topped Boeing in a $635 million contract to develop the carrier-based drone, X-47B, which is now set to begin flying in November ‘09. It may equip with both laser and high-power microwave (HPM) weapons.
A video from B.E. Meyers, which shows a military convoy in Afghanistan zapping bicyclists and motorists as a way to clear traffic. I don’t see any need to use a laser though.
Residents of a southern Israeli town want a real-life laser cannon to protect them against Palestinian rocket attacks. And they’re suing the national government, for failing to provide the ray gun defense. Danger Room from Wired.com
