my inner geek wrote:
> Michael Lorrey <retroman@together.net>:
> > system. Now most of the cost of one of those is just the engine. So we get
> > smarter battlefield technologies for less money thanks to gps. Also THOR is a
> > line of sight system is it not? Well, most preferred weapons can kill over
> > the horizon....
>
> I said "THOR", I meant "THEL". Yes, it's a line of site laser, yet can
> be space based. Check your calendar, is the moon visible from
> your location? Imagine a few hundred of these on the moon!
>
> Actually, what's the point in sending a Tomahawk from an off-shore
> Destroyer or human-piloted fighter/bomber, when you can send
> something up in a parabolic trajectory that uses GPS to steer while
> decending upon its target?
Because:
As for THEL, well I like laser guns as much as anybody, but anything that is line of sight can be attacked by the attackee. Put a THEL on the moon and next thing you know every nation is gonna have its own pet Russian laser scientist....
Lasers are best used as a means of destroying the other guys ability to see whats on the battlefield. Wiping out the other guys satellites, radar dishes, etc just before you attack with a force from over the horizon not only gives you surprise, but an overwhelming advantage in C3I during the battle. Its merely an extension of electronic warfare.
Mike Lorrey
Mike Lorrey