Changing the dynamics of war: laser weapons
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
Man is the architect of his destruction. Since the day when he was sent on the earth, he has been fighting since then, sometimes for his survival, sometimes for his desires, sometimes for his little worldly gain. Man has spilled up rivers of blood over the few centuries to gain a momentarily control over this fraction of blue dot suspended in the space-time. His ambitions for power and lust are limitless and uncontrollable regardless of the consequences. He has created such weapons enough to wipe out whole humanity from the face of the earth and he is creating more and more to spread fear over his enemies. Today we are going to discuss a new and a unique kind of weapon that can storm the battle field with its might.
LASER WEAPONS:
You might have seen the surgeon using a laser to help the patients recover their eyesight but have you ever think of how much damage will that highly focused, intense and monochromatic beam of light will do once it is deployed on a warship, plane or any defense system? Here is what it will look like
HISTORY OF LASER WEAPONS
The idea of using light as a weapon is as old as the ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE discovered back in 212BC, I am not gonna explain the Archimedes principle here, that’s got nothing to do with laser weapons!!
The idea of using light as a weapon can be traced back to Hippocrates, commander of the Greek forces in 212 B.C. His forces supposedly set fire to the sails of the Roman fleet by focusing sunlight with mirrors. Weapons systems based on lasers and “ray guns,” long a staple of science fiction, have captured the imagination of people everywhere. But with steady progress toward the development of lasers in the last 40 years, viable, state-of-the-art laser weapon systems have now become a reality ( Melissa Olson)
QUALITIES OF LASER AS A WEAPON:
Laser light has got some unique qualities, some of them are as follow:
-It is unaffected by gravity, unlike the missiles that sometimes miss their target due to gravity factor.
-It causes minimum collateral damage so you can hit your target with pinpoint precision.
-It travels at the speed of light and can reach to the target place in just milliseconds.
-It is capable of causing a particular, determined amount of damage to targets
REQUIREMENTS:
Environmental and personnel safety • Mirror coatings • Chilling requirements • Power requirements • Laser fuel storage • Alignment and tracking requirements
