Matt Gurney: U.S. Navy sets phasers to “defend”

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/04/10/matt-gurney-u-s-navy-sets-phasers-to-defend/



Matt Gurney: U.S. Navy sets phasers to “defend”
Matt Gurney | 13/04/10 | Last Updated: 13/04/10 10:14 AM ET

If all goes according to plan, the first warship to mount a directed energy weapon will arrive in the Persian Gulf by the summer of next year. The USS Ponce, modified to carry a prototype laser weapon, will join other U.S. ships in the region in keeping a careful watch on Iran.

The laser, known as a LaWS (Laser Weapons System), is an early version of what one day may become a very useful part of the Navy’s arsenal. The version that will be sent aboard Ponce, herself an older ship that would not normally serve on the front lines, is not a fully developed weapon. The Navy hopes to one day deploy larger and more powerful versions, that will be capable of destroying incoming boats, missiles and planes. The version aboard Ponce will be effective only against smaller targets, such as a drone or very small boat.

And despite the fond hopes of sci-fi fans everywhere, the laser will hardly be an Imperial laser cannon or a Federation phaser array. Sci-fi has often treated energy weapons as massively devastating bolts of death — one hit and the enemy target, be it Rebel or Klingon, is destroyed in a massive explosion. The lasers that will be deployed aboard the Ponce, and presumably other U.S. Navy ships after that, will be far more limited. But still very useful.

Imagine the weapon that will be carried aboard the Ponce as a kind of long-range blowtorch. It will work by striking its target with a sustained point of intense heat. The heat will build up and eventually melt or cut its way through whatever it is hitting. That might sever important wires, or break off a wing or a tail section of a plane. It could theoretically burn into a full tank and cause an explosion. But this will take time — a glancing, momentary blow won’t cut it. How much time will depend on the power of the laser: more power, less time.