Bomb pumped XRay lasers

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-24 07:27pm

kojikun wrote:carbon cylinders are fine for FOCUSING, but you need multiple passes to lase, so while a cylinder goes reflect, it doesn't reflect properly to cause lasing.

Well maybe that's why Edward Teller's "Excalibur project" was canned and the "Brilliant Pebbles" initiative selected.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-04-24 07:37pm

got any more info on these two projects??

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-24 07:46pm

kojikun wrote:got any more info on these two projects??

Ask the Pentagon in another 50 years when they may just be declassified.

Jadeite · Post by **Jadeite** » 2003-04-24 08:02pm

First thing I thought of when I saw this thread topic was the laser bombs in Honorverse

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2003-04-24 10:00pm

Arrow Mk84 wrote:In a military appilication, what advantage would an X-Ray Laser have over an array of IR lasers, with both the X-Ray and the IR Array tranmitting the same power to a point on a target?

The disadvantage of the X-Ray laser seems pretty obivious, in that you either have to find a way to contain and direct a nuclear explosion or in that you have to use an inefficient particle accelerator to energize the electrons used in an FEL; whereas the IR lasers are much more efficient.

Also, if you wanted to block an X-Ray laser, what kind of material would you use? Thick blocks of metal? A tight knit crystaline?

Anyone care to answer these questions?

Ignorant twit · Post by **Ignorant twit** » 2003-04-24 10:21pm

The military advantages are X-rays are harder to reflect back. X-rays penetrate farther before they begin heating so you might be able to blow the ship from the inside out. Other lasers also have a hard time transferring heat through a dense vapor medium (say some of the hull that has just boiled off).

The other thing is X-rays are better at doing nasty things to the pilots and electronics on board. I also beleive X-rays are better at ionization than even visible/UV lasers.

Blocking an X-ray laser is going to involve dense material. The more crap you have between the sensitive targets and the laser, the better. A better idea is simple to not let them hit you. Try to engage beyond their targetting range, present a small cross sectional area, etc.