Future military fighters and guns - yes or no ?

"Bjørnar Bolsøy" wrote in message ...
steve gallacci wrote in
:
Ian wrote:

"Dweezil Dwarftosser" wrote in message
...
George wrote:

Cool... if (and only if):

- the laser has the same optical path as the video-
aiming device. (May be slaved to radar aim point,
but it is essential the trigger-puller be able to
SEE the effectiveness of the aim/shot).
- all battles are over a sunny, clear desert.
- there is no smoke from previous targets, ground or air.
- There is no "Interlocks out" switch in the cockpit, so
the pilot cannot short-cuircuit the mandatory charge time.
(prevents him from firing "blanks"...)

From what I've read, I'd say it is viable to do this, but
questions have been asked about the "recharge" time for the
laser?

While lasers could be cool, I have doubts about effectiveness,
especially once they become operational, as ablatives and other
protections/countermeasures could reduce them to little more
than over-built flashlights.

What about the heat generated by it? A 100KW laser means many
times that in generated electrical power. Where do you put it?


Regards...

So far the way I've seen is to use water-cooling internally which
radiates through air cooled fins, using ram-air from the slipstream to
insure rapid air movement. How well this works, I don't know. For the
electrical power and placing, Lockheed has suggested using the STOVL
model and taking out the lift fan, using the large amount of shaft
horsepower to run a generator for power and the space for the laser
and generator.