Laserati

"Plausible deniability" is an added benefit of laser weapons according to US Air Force Research Laboratory. via: NewScientist

Cynthia Kaiser, chief engineer of the US Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, used the phrase "plausible deniability" to describe the weapon's benefits in a briefing (powerpoint format) on laser weapons to the New Mexico Optics Industry Association in June.

John Corley, director of USAF's Capabilities Integration Directorate, used the same phrase to describe the weapon's benefits at an Air Armament Symposium in Florida in October 2007 (see page 15, pdf format).

As the term suggests, "plausible deniability" is used to describe situations where those responsible for an event could plausibly claim to have had no involvement in it.

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ST. LOUIS, June 03, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] fired its new thin-disk laser system repeatedly in recent tests, achieving the highest known simultaneous power, beam quality and run time for any solid-state laser to date.

In each laser firing at Boeing's facility in West Hills, Calif., the high-energy laser achieved power levels of over 25 kilowatts for multi-second durations, with a measured beam quality suitable for a tactical weapon system. The Boeing laser integrates multiple thin-disk lasers into a single system. Through these successful tests, the Boeing team has proven the concept of scalability to a 100-kilowatt-class system based on the same architecture and technology.

"Solid-state lasers will revolutionize the battlefield by giving the warfighter an ultra-precision engagement capability that can dramatically reduce collateral damage," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "These successful tests show that Boeing has made solid progress toward making this revolutionary capability a reality."

The thin-disk laser is an initiative to demonstrate that solid-state laser technologies are now ready to move out of the laboratory and into full development as weapon systems. Solid-state lasers are powered by electricity, making them highly mobile and supportable on the battlefield. The Boeing laser represents the most electrically efficient solid-state laser technology known. The system is designed to meet the rapid-fire, rapid-retargeting requirements of area-defense, anti-missile and anti-mortar tactical high-energy laser systems. It is also ideal for non-lethal, ultra-precision strike missions urgently needed by warfighters in war zones.

"This accomplishment demonstrates Boeing's commitment to advancing the state of the art in directed energy technology," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems. "These successful tests are a significant milestone toward providing reliable and supportable lasers to U.S. warfighters."

Boeing's approach incorporates a series of commercial-off-the-shelf, state-of-the-art lasers used in the automotive industry. These industrial lasers have demonstrated exceedingly high reliability, supportability and maintainability.

A high-power solid-state laser will damage, disable or destroy targets at the speed of light, with little to no collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in urban operations.

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q2/080603a_nr.html

TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2008--Applied Energetics, Inc., (Nasdaq:AERG) today announced it has been awarded a $4.5 million Sole Source Contract from the U.S. Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command (ARDEC - Picatinny, NJ) for the development and advancement of the company's Laser Guided Energy technology.

Applied Energetics Chairman, President and CEO Dana Marshall remarked that the ARDEC contract is a notable milestone for the company. "We thank the Army for their efforts and assistance in moving this program forward. This contract, which is funded through the Army's RDT&E budget, signifies the commitment by the Army to complete the core technology development for LGE, and will bring us to the follow-on phases of demonstration system engineering."

Laser Guided Energy is a transformational weapon technology by which a controllable high voltage electric charge can be precisely guided by a laser through the atmosphere to induce a range of controllable effects against a variety of potential military and security targets. LGE has been a central proprietary technology for Applied Energetics since the company was founded in 2002. The company has over thirty patent filings relating to the technology and its applications, with four patents awarded and twenty nine patent applications in process.

Mr. Ben Lagasca Chief of the Advanced Energy Armaments Division at U.S. Army ARDEC, remarked on the award: "The U.S. Army has followed the development of LGE for the past 4 years. Now that the technology is approaching a level of maturity needed to consider weaponization we will be more closely coordinated with Applied Energetics through this contract to bring the technology to full maturity to fulfill Army mission needs."

The award is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee contract for $4.5 million dollars with a period of performance of one year commencing April 30th 2008. The development effort will fund advances in the systems and components that comprise a Laser Guided Energy system and will be the first steps in advancement of these systems to meet U.S. Army future requirements.

About Applied Energetics, Inc.

Applied Energetics, Inc., based in Tucson, Ariz., specializes in development and manufacture of advanced high performance lasers, high voltage electronics, advanced optical systems, and integrated guided energy systems for defense, aerospace, industrial, and scientific customers worldwide. Applied Energetics pioneered the development of Laser Guided Energy (LGE(R)) technology, and related solutions for defense and security applications. For more information about Applied Energetics, please visit www.appliedenergetics.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such factors include, but are not limited to: the dependence on sales of a limited number of products and the uncertainty of the timing and magnitude of government funding and orders, dependence on sales to government customers; the uncertainty of patent protection; the uncertainty of strategic alliances; the uncertainty of management tenure; the impact of third-party suppliers' manufacturing constraints or difficulties; management's ability to achieve business performance objectives, market acceptance of, and demand for, the Company's products, and resulting revenues; development and testing of technology and products; manufacturing capabilities; impact of competitive products and pricing; litigation and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The words "looking forward," "believe," "demonstrate," "intend," "expect," "contemplate," "estimate," "anticipate," "likely" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. Advanced Energetics undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this news release.

CONTACT: Investor Relations:
Cameron Associates
Kevin McGrath, 212-245-4577
Kevin@cameronassoc.com

SOURCE: Applied Energetics, Inc.

South Korea is developing a mobile truck-mounted laser weaponSouth Korea is developing a mobile truck-mounted laser weapon capable of destroying North Korean missiles and artillery shells, a report said Saturday.

A defence ministry research team and defence firms have been involved in the development of high energy laser weapons, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.

From 2010, South Korea hopes to deploy the weapon, which can counter North Korean missiles and long-range artillery shells deployed along the border, it said.

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Everyone likes fiber laser. Now US Navy is also looking at fiber laser.

In a presentation and white paper given last week at a meeting of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Captain David Kiel said that lasers using as little as 10 and 20 kilowatts were used to blast mortars and zap small watercraft.  Neither the Navy -- nor its corporate partner, Raytheon -- is saying exactly how they pulled it off.  But the key, according to Kiel, is fiber lasers...

Via Danger Room.

Over Damn Interesting, there is a damn interesting article on lasers. As usual, people are only interested in "big" lasers and laser weapons.

MTHEL - Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser。

An interesting article on laser weapon on Popular Science by Noah Shachtman, editor of defensetech.org, a military-technology blog.