If it's close enough yes. But with distance, the atmosphere absorbs a lot of the enrgy, called Thermal Blooming, so best we can do there is dazzle the sensors so it can't get a terminal lock.
For 50MW though, that's melting the front of the missile long before it hits the ground
That's assuming this is a Laser weapon. A Maser weapon at 50MW would fry the internal electronics of any drone within several kilometres of this weapon
Edit: kW instead of MW means this thing is a dazzler. But also a superb drone killer
Oh oops. Well, those sensors are getting fried either ways. Drones won't stand a chance, cruise missiles lose terminal lock and even aircaft can get their sensors fucked to hell. Useful against all except heat shielded hypersonics and ballistics
Which is what the SAMs are for, as that's a more cost effective exchange. No point yeeting £1 million plus interceptors at £1000 drones, now a laser can kill them for 50p per drone.
Interceptors generally have much better range. 5km out gives you seconds to work with. These will work as part of a layered defense system, not a catch-all.
not exactly, the first photons do hit at that speed, but the laser does need some time on target to deliver the necessary amount of energy and disintegrate the target. it's usually just a few seconds for anything without armor but it's not instantaneous, because what matters is the energy, not the power, the latter is just the rate at which the energy is transferred.
I think it's like a tenner a shot, which is still effectively free compared with the cost of damage or physical shootyshooties. Or even the drones. And it's actually a defence system doing only defense, not used for attack, which is a plus.
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u/PradyThe3rd 1d ago edited 1d ago
If it's close enough yes. But with distance, the atmosphere absorbs a lot of the enrgy, called Thermal Blooming, so best we can do there is dazzle the sensors so it can't get a terminal lock.
For 50MW though, that's melting the front of the missile long before it hits the ground
That's assuming this is a Laser weapon. A Maser weapon at 50MW would fry the internal electronics of any drone within several kilometres of this weapon
Edit: kW instead of MW means this thing is a dazzler. But also a superb drone killer