TIS-1 Gasdynamic Laser Weapon

[Nowhere]

I would think that a laser would generate enough heat on the thin lining on the back of a standard mirror to blow right thru the coating before it reflected back towards the gun.

What do you mean, "before"?

[Nowhere]

And the whole thing looks like a nice, intense and spot size heat source...wouldn't want to be holding this against an enemy equipped with IR googles

[Wulfman]

what would a wound look like? heat-sealed 1.3mm hole doesn't sound too bad, as long as no vital organs are hit.

mfg
wulfman

[RedRed]

Think this still has a while to go before its practical

a < 2mm hole wont kill you, if you are hit almost anywhere. (even the chest). it doesnt give detail of the damage it causes when it hits either..... would it penetrate right through? the water in a 'soft' target is very effective in dissipating the heat pretty quickly.....

If the gun jams, (a potential problem if you have mechanical shutters to protect the lens) your foot soldier is screwed - I would be surprised if there are any 'serviceable parts inside'......

The thing is liquid cooled - not the safest as far as resistance to combat damage.....


If it suffers battle damage, everyone gets covered in fairly deadly radioactive material..... hmmmmmm

would be ok if you are running about in radiation hazard environment suits..... and had a spare m16 to back it up..... and if you fire on auto.... the recoil of the rate of fire takes your shoulder off.....

Also Nowheres point about detectibility makes it useless as a sniper weapon

It might work on a tank or something - You dont try to hide it. But then tanks are primarially used in modern warfare as supression devices - not necessarially 'Kill'. you cant supress with this - if you miss, you do no real damage.... Noone can see the inbound shot (or its effects).

[Tjalfe]

The Po-210 provides a thermal energy source of approximately 141 watts/gram through the emission of alpha
particles via the process of nuclear decay. This energy source provides a significant power density while alleviating
the shielding requirements and apparent health risks associated with gamma ray emitting radionuclides. The presence
of the Po-210 in the reservoir chamber will result in the delivery of approximately 104.34 kW to the CO2 N 2 He gas

it is an Alpha emitter.. would they even penetrate your clothing, should bad things happen to it?.. I remember science class, where a piece of paper was shown to stop alpha radiation

[gt40]

What do you mean, "before"?

I'm saying it would fairly instantly blow a hole in the thin lining on a conventional mirror.
A typical Co2 laser uses wavelengths that require special optics for the wavelength of light produces. Even glass looks somewhat opaque to a CO2 laser - enough that you can cut glass with a standard industrial C02 laser.
I have operated lasers from 1000-4000 watts, and had no problem cutting highly polished aluminum or stainless steel - once it 'etches' the surface the reflectivity becomes a non issue.
There are definetly differences betwenn this weapon and a standard foused beam industrial laser, but I really don't think a standard consumer grade mirror would offer any protection.

But then again, what do I know

[Jon P. Inghram]

What RedRed is saying is that the Polonium would be rather dangerous if the gun gets broken open: alpha emitters are all fun and games until you breath or eat 'em.

[RedRed]

yup thats right.

The power source is a lump of radioactive material. probably/posibly a powder (or a ceramic substrate - unlikely a solid lump of metal) (if its not powder then it could be when an AK47 round hits it and knocks out the liquid coolant.

You breathe that stuff in (or ingest it in any other way) and you are looking at Lung cancer . It is intensely alpha-radioactive (hence the short half life) - this means that its also intensly poisonous.

on a google I found this:

'10 picograms of Po-210 (about 1/100 the size of a particle of icing sugar), if swallowed or inhaled, could bring a very high risk of cancer at a later stage in life. Indeed the radiation is so intense, that drinking a solution containing even 10 nanograms of Po-210 could cause rapid fatal radiation poisoning.

The other problem with the modern systems comes from their short half-life - their power will rapidly decline. In the case of a Po-210 battery it will be operating at about 10% power after 1 year, and at 1% after 2 years.'

You would not be able to modify the frequency of the laser either (bummer as an anti tank weapon, (a tanks could conceivably carry shielding)) - this type of laser is called a 'nuclear pumped' laser - it fires at its frequency precisely becasue of the the P-120.

another snag I just thaught of. The majority of munitions fired in GW1 & 2 were refitted (or not) Iron bombs developed amd manufactured in the 1970's. You need a nuclear reactor to make teh quantities of PO 120 you need (you irridiate Berilium), though Madame Cureie found some in pitchblende, it was minute quantities. The upshot of this is that you can only make it when you need it. then you have to get it to the front.

Not being able to store this weapon severly limits its tactical usefulness.