> > From: Billy Brown <bbrown@conemsco.com>
> > anti-missile systems - it is much easier to hit a missile with a laser than
> > another missile.
> den Otter wrote:
> Yes, and it's considerably cheaper and safer too. Lasers could not
> only be very effective against missiles, but perhaps even more so against
> aircraft both as land/ship based AAA and fitted to any (military) aircraft
> (especially fighter planes). The aircraft's engines could (partially) power
> the laser.
Yes, but what if its foggy? Those of you who are computer fans, consider the calculation that has to take place in order for a THAAD missile to find its mark: the target must be tracked by radar, mapped in 4 space (to predict its trajectory), the THAAD missile must then be fired, then bleed off some of its energy (usually, since it is launched by a solid rocket motor which must burn up completely before the end game guidance can be deployed) in a spirally maneuver, then the onboard seeker must engage, while constantly recalculating the target trajectory, integrating the information from gyros fore and aft, and the cruciform nozzles in the kill vehicle must work perfectly enough to hit body to body, since THAAD carries no explosive charge.
If this firing next Wednesday hits, I will be in awe of my own company. {8^D spike