Thomas
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I thought it would be fun to post on future military research and development projects. Please post only those projects that are real actual Government funded projects. Does not matter if it's Russia, U.S., China, or Europe. And please provide Web links to their sources. I will start it out with a project that has been under way for a number of years.
DARPA to develop Plasma Acoustic Shield System
Manish Kanaujia | Sep 7 2008
A man approaches a checkpoint, apparently deaf to soldiers’ shouts to stop. He could be a suicide bomber — or just a confused individual wandering the streets. How do you give him an unambiguous, can’t-miss instruction to halt?
ThreedCreate a curtain of miniature mid-air explosions right in front of him, would be the answer from Keith Braun of the U.S. Army’s Advanced Energy Armaments Systems Division. Using a new Plasma Acoustic Shield System (PASS), nobody can ignore the plasma detonations, and anyone who chooses to go through them clearly has serious intent.
The system, which I describe on the New Scientist website, has already been demonstrated. It’s being built by a company called Stellar Photonics, and uses a pulsed laser to create the noisy but harmless flash-bang effects at a range of up to a hundred meters.
“A single plasma detonation is at the moment equivalent to that of a large firecracker,” says Braun, “just imagine couple hundred all at once.”
It’s easy to see how you could use this to fire ‘warning shots’ in front of an approaching vehicle; a distracted driver might not notice some things, but a mass of exploding plasma bursts should get their attention.
It reminded me a lot of a much smaller Japanese system which
I wrote about last year - that’s it in the picture. That one is being used to create 3D images in the air using dozens of tiny plasma
‘flash points’ which are constantly refreshed, but which is limited to a fairly small size. The PASS could create much bigger and better 3D
shapes, the main limitation being the pulse rate of the laser which will determine how many ‘pixels’ can be maintained at a time.
You might, for example, create a huge floating Stop sign right across a road, one that can be turned on or off at will. Perhaps a large glowing arrow above a potential opponent pointing down at them might be a useful means of getting them to back off, or of saying ‘this is the troublemaker’ to friendly troops or police.
Is that a sniper at the window? He’s not going to be able to take aim through a curtain of dazzling explosions – and if it’s not a sniper, then you haven’t accidentally shot the wrong person. If you have to move across open ground, wouldn’t you rather do it behind the cover of a magic moving screen?
I’m sure Danger Room readers will be able to think of many uses for this technology, which combines some of the qualities of smoke and flares, but which can be directed with absolute precision and moved around as needed.
And when they bring in more advanced versions with higher power levels, then things get really interesting.
Plasma Shield : Stellar Photonics, LLC
here is the plasma rifle they are developing as well.
Real-Life Laser Rifle: Army Goal | Danger Room | Wired.com
Stellar Photonics, which has a $2.7 million contract to build PASS for the Defense Department, is pitching a portable laser rifle “which would be lethal,” according to Army researchers. Hambling reports,
It would weigh about fifteen kilograms, would have a range of more than a mile, and could have numerous advantages over existing rifles–better accuracy and the ability to hit a moving target at the speed of light.
It could also be used in non-lethal mode, “offering the individual soldier a first response non-lethal alternative, with the capability to go lethal should the situation call for that level of response”, says Braun. But extensive testing of its effects on humans would need to be carried out before it could be legitimately used as a non-lethal weapon.
DARPA to develop Plasma Acoustic Shield System
Manish Kanaujia | Sep 7 2008
A man approaches a checkpoint, apparently deaf to soldiers’ shouts to stop. He could be a suicide bomber — or just a confused individual wandering the streets. How do you give him an unambiguous, can’t-miss instruction to halt?
ThreedCreate a curtain of miniature mid-air explosions right in front of him, would be the answer from Keith Braun of the U.S. Army’s Advanced Energy Armaments Systems Division. Using a new Plasma Acoustic Shield System (PASS), nobody can ignore the plasma detonations, and anyone who chooses to go through them clearly has serious intent.
The system, which I describe on the New Scientist website, has already been demonstrated. It’s being built by a company called Stellar Photonics, and uses a pulsed laser to create the noisy but harmless flash-bang effects at a range of up to a hundred meters.
“A single plasma detonation is at the moment equivalent to that of a large firecracker,” says Braun, “just imagine couple hundred all at once.”
It’s easy to see how you could use this to fire ‘warning shots’ in front of an approaching vehicle; a distracted driver might not notice some things, but a mass of exploding plasma bursts should get their attention.
It reminded me a lot of a much smaller Japanese system which
I wrote about last year - that’s it in the picture. That one is being used to create 3D images in the air using dozens of tiny plasma
‘flash points’ which are constantly refreshed, but which is limited to a fairly small size. The PASS could create much bigger and better 3D
shapes, the main limitation being the pulse rate of the laser which will determine how many ‘pixels’ can be maintained at a time.
You might, for example, create a huge floating Stop sign right across a road, one that can be turned on or off at will. Perhaps a large glowing arrow above a potential opponent pointing down at them might be a useful means of getting them to back off, or of saying ‘this is the troublemaker’ to friendly troops or police.
Is that a sniper at the window? He’s not going to be able to take aim through a curtain of dazzling explosions – and if it’s not a sniper, then you haven’t accidentally shot the wrong person. If you have to move across open ground, wouldn’t you rather do it behind the cover of a magic moving screen?
I’m sure Danger Room readers will be able to think of many uses for this technology, which combines some of the qualities of smoke and flares, but which can be directed with absolute precision and moved around as needed.
And when they bring in more advanced versions with higher power levels, then things get really interesting.
Plasma Shield : Stellar Photonics, LLC
here is the plasma rifle they are developing as well.
Real-Life Laser Rifle: Army Goal | Danger Room | Wired.com
Stellar Photonics, which has a $2.7 million contract to build PASS for the Defense Department, is pitching a portable laser rifle “which would be lethal,” according to Army researchers. Hambling reports,
It would weigh about fifteen kilograms, would have a range of more than a mile, and could have numerous advantages over existing rifles–better accuracy and the ability to hit a moving target at the speed of light.
It could also be used in non-lethal mode, “offering the individual soldier a first response non-lethal alternative, with the capability to go lethal should the situation call for that level of response”, says Braun. But extensive testing of its effects on humans would need to be carried out before it could be legitimately used as a non-lethal weapon.
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