laser weapons - other future weapon systems

[headquarters]

A thread to discuss the future of military weapons such as lasers,binary propellants , exoskeletons etc .Info from this thread might inspire an interesting encounter for the GM looking to give the party a little something different .

I just read about a Boeing made laser cannon that can shoot down drones from a vehicle mounted system .

link :

http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/02/02/n...itikk/4661833/

its in Norwegian -sorry - but it says that the "avenger type laser system is on the verge of being operational for combat deployment"

anyone got anything on this or othet interesting weapons systems of the "future"?

certainly systems that can be deployed "on the ground" are most interesting from a gaming perspective ,but bigger systems such as orbital weapons or ship mounted stuff could be of interest too.

[Mohoender]

Just a question

How would any laser survive very long in a T2K setting? Where would you find the energy to power it?

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Just a question

How would any laser survive very long in a T2K setting? Where would you find the energy to power it?

If it had survived yeah.

obviously these wouldnt be on any street corner ,but I guess keeping one operational shouldnt be much worse than one of the high end jet fighters many people have in their OOBs here ..ahem..

Just thought of another category of weapons as well -unmanned combat aircraft or vehicles like the Predator or Talon systems .

[Rupert Willies]

Pulsed laser could easily be run of the trucks internal generator, if it wasn't doing to much else.

English source for same article: http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...90126a_nr.html

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Just a question

How would any laser survive very long in a T2K setting? Where would you find the energy to power it?

[Rupert Willies]

All of these systems would have had to be stored in EMP proof buildings in order to have any chance of surviving twilight. My guess is that at least a few backup systems may be stored that way, otherwise most of the driving circuitry would be fried.

Originally Posted by headquarters

If it had survived yeah.

obviously these wouldnt be on any street corner ,but I guess keeping one operational shouldnt be much worse than one of the high end jet fighters many people have in their OOBs here ..ahem..

Just thought of another category of weapons as well -unmanned combat aircraft or vehicles like the Predator or Talon systems .

[pmulcahy11b]

One weapon that will probably see first use within the next 10 years or so will be electromagnetic rail guns. It is due to see first use on ships, then on tanks. It will be a tremendous saving in weight and reload time, but the power costs will be high. It's probably going to be a while (maybe 20 years or so), before we start seeing Traveller-type gauss rifles.

[Nowhere Man 1966]

As addressed here, power would be a problem for these weapons, you would need to have a huge generator. Even if you had the power, it would be needed elsewhere such as a hospital, running a command center or even limited civilian use.

IIRC, there was also an early laser system that was developed around 1973 that was mounted in a 707 that was designed to shoot down planes and missiles.

Chuck M.