Revolution Underway In Naval Surface Warfare

sferrin

sferrin

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"NEWTOWN, Conn. --- Two radical weapons will revolutionize naval warfare in the second decade of the 21st century, according to Forecast International's new analysis, "The Market for Naval Surface Warfare Systems." Lasers will be tasked with anti-aircraft, anti-missile, and anti-small-craft roles, while rail guns will give surface ships an entirely new dimension of ship-killing firepower.

"Probably the only way to defend against these weapons is not to be there when they get used," said Stuart Slade, senior naval analyst at Forecast International."

. . .

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/165303/a-revolution-is-underway-in-naval-surface-warfare.html
 
covert_shores said:
food for thought.

Can you fire a laser through a periscope-like design?
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely, already has been done on a UK test vessel for fleet defence / self defence measures against optical observations.
 
Most beam directors by definition are made up of a series of mirrors, so a periscope apparatus is suitable provided you can get the final gimbal stuff on the top installed, can somehow keep the main lens clean/dry, and can tolerate a fairly large diameter periscope shaft.

One could cheat with a beam director of large diameter riding above the wave line while the periscope shaft is smaller, but the wake from the setup will still stick out like a sore thumb, and the beam director would have a hard time being radar stealthy. As a defensive weapon against maritime patrol aircraft, maybe, but ASROC style torpedoes, or those 100 mile torpedoes people are talking about, it will provide no real shield.

But in the age of lasers, line of sight is line of death, so NLOS/standoff weapons come into the fore until laser defenses can deal with smaller target swarms.


The reverse of blue laser LIDARS finding subs from aircraft, may mean aircraft may have a laser means of attacking subs (though I guess the best target of merit is the propeller?)
 
Attacking a submerged submarine with a laser would have a lot of problems unless we're talking really really powerful lasers. But in the near-ish term ASW aircraft could use a lasers to destroy or at least impair communications masts, snorkels, radars, pretty much anything else the sub might want to stick above the surface to do its job.
 
Moose said:
Attacking a submerged submarine with a laser would have a lot of problems unless we're talking really really powerful lasers. But in the near-ish term ASW aircraft could use a lasers to destroy or at least impair communications masts, snorkels, radars, pretty much anything else the sub might want to stick above the surface to do its job.
Click to expand...

But being in an ASW helo/patrol aircraft when a periscope with a 100kw laser lights up would not be a fun experience.
 
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/07/20/the_us_navys_cruise_missile_nightmare__107640.html
 
covert_shores said:
food for thought.

Can you fire a laser through a periscope-like design?
Click to expand...
Yes, BUT.

You want a very large diameter final mirror to control how much heat that laser dumps inside itself. Any given mirror might be 99.9% reflective, but 1MW laser means 1kw on a small mirror.

The Boeing ABL used relatively small mirrors to bounce through the laser turret, and then expanded to a 1.5m primary targeting mirror.
 

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