Oooooh! Aaaaah! Germans test 50kW Laser weapon system.

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**Grey Templar**

IDK, 50KW lasers probably arn't that great with Tuna salad.

**Ratbarf**

I was thinking condoms personally.

**potatosack**

Grey Templar wrote:
IDK, 50KW lasers probably arn't that great with Tuna salad.

what? are you kidding? thats be awesome, you wouldn't get to eat it but you get to shoot it with a 50kW lazer.

**Leigen_Zero**

potatosack wrote:
would it by any chance be possible to purchase one of these contraptions? or put it into space, so then we have a space lazer. or build a shoulder launch 50kW lazer? that's be awesome. or do anything with it really, adding 50kW lazers into anything automatically makes it awesome in my book

There's a treaty that most western countries signed that says 'I promise to not weaponise my spacecraft', not sure if Germany's signature is on the list but most places agreed to it...

**Grey Templar**

I thought the treaty said 'I will not put Nukes in space"

**whembly**

Grey Templar wrote:
I thought the treaty said 'I will not put Nukes in space"

Pretty much any weapons of mass destruction:

The Outer Space Treaty represents the basic legal framework of international space law. Among its principles, it bars States Parties to the Treaty from placing nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. It exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications

(Art.IV). However, the Treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit. The treaty also states that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and shall be free for exploration and use by all the States.
The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet, claiming that they are the Common heritage of mankind.[2] Art. II of the Treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means". However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object.[3] The State is also liable for damages caused by their space object and must avoid contaminating space and celestial bodies.[4]

**Leigen_Zero**

I'd say lasers are pretty unconventional weapons.

Plus, most 'conventional' weapons need oxygen to function, not much of that out there in the old big black, so you can put them up there if you want, but they ain't going to do you much good...

**Grey Templar**

The definition of conventional is kinda loose.

Of course its easy enough to make bullets that contain their own oxidizer, or don't require one to function. And Railguns just need power. They couldn't care less about oxygen.

I think Lasers would require much more power then a Railgun would.

Of course, if I were building a space warship I would have both a laser weapon and railguns. The laser would bemore effective at a distance than the Railgun due to the potential to evade the incoming railgun slug. Best to have a mix of weapons in the case of different situations.

My ideal line warship would have a 50/50 mix of laser cannons and railguns as the primary long range weapons, a series of guided missile launchers, close range anti-missile/fighter craft turrets utilizing self-oxidizing bullets, and finally at least one "Rod from God" cannon for orbital bombardment.

**Ratbarf**

If you have a railgun why do you need a Rod from God? It's much more likely that the railgun would have a higher kinetic force than the Rod from God anyways.

**Grey Templar**

The rail gun only shoots something around the size of a milk jug. The Rod from God is the size of a telephone pole, aside from that its really just a very big railgun.

I think a railgun slug might be too small to survive reentry through the atmosphere too. At least in any size capable of being used to kill something.

**AlexHolker**

Grey Templar wrote:
And energy isn't the limitation, Nuclear reactor on ships and all that, but rather its the fact that when you shoot the gun there is so much friction that it causes the barrel interior to vaporize. Meaning that every couple shots the barrel needs replacing.

It's not friction that's the problem, it's arcing. A railgun works by putting so much electricity across the slug that it works like an electric motor, exerting a force that pushes the slug sideways (read: forwards). But whenever the contact between the slug and the rails isn't perfect, you get a spark that pits the metal.

Leigen_Zero wrote:
Plus, most 'conventional' weapons need oxygen to function, not much of that out there in the old big black, so you can put them up there if you want, but they ain't going to do you much good...

This isn't true either: the oxidiser the powder needs is inside the casing. It's like thermite - smokeless powder burns by reacting with itself, not atmospheric oxygen.

Grey Templar wrote:
I think a railgun slug might be too small to survive reentry through the atmosphere too. At least in any size capable of being used to kill something.

I don't think that would be a problem - since you're not trying to slow it down, you'd shape it to minimise air resistance, which means less ablation.