# Frickin' sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads are no match for... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711 "2015-12-17T17:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/1 "2015-12-17T17:50:29Z")
[Frickin’ fighters with frickin’ lasers mounted on them](http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politics/us-air-force-laser-fighter-jet-weapons-research/index.html)! > [@](#): > > (CNN)The invention of guns took warfare to a whole new level. Later, airplanes radically changed it again. Now, experts say another big shift is coming, led by energy weapons, including lasers. > > The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, said it’s on track to demonstrate a working laser weapon on a fighter jet by 2020. > > “It really is a national tipping point,” said Kelly Hammett, chief engineer for the AFRL’s directed energy directorate. “We see the technology evolving and maturing to the stage where it really can be used.” > > Arming larger planes with laser weapons has been possible for years. > > But the more difficult challenge is to create lasers small, accurate and powerful enough for fighter jets, Hammett said. The g-forces and vibrations of near supersonic speeds make that tough. Hammett said he thinks those hurdles can be overcome within five years. > > The AFRL is also working on another idea that sounds like something from “Star Trek”: > > You might call it a defensive laser shield — as in, “Shields up, Mr. Sulu.” > > Here’s how it would work: A 360-degree laser bubble would surround a U.S. warplane. That bubble would disable or destroy anything that comes inside, like a missile or another aircraft. > > To invent such a shield, you’d need a turret that doesn’t interfere with the aerodynamics of the warplane. A turret like that has already been successfully tested under Hammett at AFRL in partnership with Lockheed Martin and DARPA, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Pretty incredible if they actually could work out how to put a high enough powered laser on a fighter jet. The implications of this are pretty far reaching. I mean, I don’t think most people noticed that the Navy is already testing out lasers on their warships (most everyone knows they are testing rail guns, which are much more flashy), and that the Air Force had been testing nose mounted lasers on some of their larger planes, but this could really be a game changer…assuming it works and is feasible. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/2 "2015-12-18T14:50:14Z")
It’s interesting because combat lasers may be the end of combat aircraft as we know them. A ground-base AA system may render the combat airspace uninhabitable for any aircraft that peeks over the horizon. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/3 "2015-12-18T15:06:07Z")
Until a defense against lasers is discovered. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/4 "2015-12-18T15:29:37Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It’s interesting because combat lasers may be the end of combat aircraft as we know them. A ground-base AA system may render the combat airspace uninhabitable for any aircraft that peeks over the horizon. That’s where stealth comes in. Basically, if you can’t see the plane or can’t get a firm enough lock on it you aren’t going to be able to hit it with the precision needed for a laser to damage or destroy it. Of course, unless you stealth your bombs and missiles, those might not be as effective if this technology comes into wide spread use. But…it’s still just super cool (to me) that we are actually getting to the point where we are going to arm our fighter jets with frickin’ lasers! Though I seem to be the only one excited by this…most of the people at work (and we are talking uber geek types here) seem to be mostly meh (or, ‘what, we don’t have that already??’). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/5 "2015-12-18T16:04:48Z")
Will they go “Pew! Pew! Pew!”? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/6 "2015-12-18T20:24:07Z")
> [@XT](#): > > But…it’s still just super cool (to me) that we are actually getting to the point where we are going to arm our fighter jets with frickin’ lasers! Though I seem to be the only one excited by this…most of the people at work (and we are talking uber geek types here) seem to be mostly meh (or, ‘what, we don’t have that already??’). The advent of power armor is what gets me excited. Right now, there are exoskeletons in use that could conceivably be converted to carry heavy full-body ballistic protection. I bet the army is working on it right now. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/7 "2015-12-18T21:16:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Frickin’ sharks with frickin’ lasers on their heads are no match for… … grizzly bears with nukes! ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/8 "2015-12-19T23:01:09Z")
So, what happens when a fighter with a laser “bubble” shielding it approaches a ground-based AA “bubble”. Can a stealth missile penetrate the AA “bubble”? If a bubble can protect a small airplane against antiaircraft missiles, why couldn’t a ground-based bubble (with MUCH larger power available) do the same to anything the plane could launch. If this “bubble” becomes a reality, all airborne weapons become instantly obsolete. Just as the cannon rendered all previous means of destroying stone castles obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/9 "2015-12-19T23:14:31Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Just as the cannon rendered all previous means of destroying stone castles obsolete. I would say not obsolete, but slower. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frickin-sharks-with-frickin-lasers-on-their-heads-are-no-match-for/740711/10 "2015-12-21T07:04:42Z")
Until the fool brought a catapult (not a ‘trebuchet’, you pretentious twits) to the castle that just got a cannon. Quite instantly obsolete.