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Now we know what the Navy plans to do with its experimental hybrid of laser cannon and machine gun: zap pirate ships.

Two defense giants, Boeing and BAE Systems, announced late last month that they would team up on a $2.8 million Navy contract for a prototype version of BAE's Mk-38 25-mm machine gun with a little upgrade: a death ray. As the companies excitedly explained, the new gun would protect surface ships from pretty much everything, from enemy boats to small drones.

What the companies weren't letting on was that they had already tested the machine-laser-gun a month before the announcement. And in tests that BAE -- hardly an uninterested party -- claims were successful, the new Mk-38 took on its most likely adversary: pirate skiffs.

In late June, the waters of the Choctawatchee Bay near Florida's Elgin Air Force Base stood in for the Gulf of Aden, as ersatz pirate ships "swarmed" amidst dense "civilian" maritime traffic to harass a mock Navy "platform" armed with the laser gun. The enhanced version of the Mk-38 used its lasers to fix the enemy targets for bursts of machine gun fire, before switching up to laser mode to "defeat the targets" with a "high beam-quality 10-kilowatt laser," BAE spokeswoman Stephanie Bissell Serkhoshian told Wired.

That might be the most practical use for the new weapon. Pirate attacks near Yemen and Somalia employ motorboats, often working in "swarm" teams, small enough to be neutralised by 10 kilowatts' worth of power, which the Navy considers about an order of magnitude below what's typically militarily useful. They also get close enough to US ships and merchant vessels to let off small-arms fire at the crews, putting them in range of either the machine-gun bursts or the laser target.

Serkhoshian pointed to an April pirate attempt on the USS Ashland as a template for the test. In the Gulf of Aden on April 10, a green pirate skiff sneaked up on the amphibious dock landing ship, getting close enough for its six-man crew to let off small-arms fire at the Ashland. The US sailors retaliated with their laser-free Mk-38, setting the skiff aflame and forcing the pirates to abandon ship.

With a laser attached, the idea is to blast multiple skiffs more efficiently: A laser of similar kilowatt expenditure can burn through an outboard motor in about a minute, as the Office of Naval Research demonstrated with a different laser system in the California seas back in April.

And it's also useful for locking onto targets for the conventional machine gun to shoot. It's certainly a departure from BAE's last anti-piracy contribution: a crystalline neodymium-yttrium-aluminium garnet laser used as a blinding floodlight.

Still, the test had some serious training wheels attached. The laser version of the Mk-38 wasn't fired from a Navy ship maneuvering against the enemy skiffs. It was actually affixed to a Navy "platform" on dry land, Serkhoshian confirms, while the skiffs were out in the water. It's much easier to fire from a static position, and Navy ships like the Ashland probably won't have that luxury.

By contrast, the Office of Naval Research's laser test in April was a big deal precisely because it represented the first time a Navy laser fired from a ship speeding through choppy waters blasted away a moving target. Additionally, BAE won't disclose how far away the "pirate skiffs" were when the Mk-38 took them out.

It'll be years before the Mk-38 gets out of the development stage and aboard a ship. But the eternal struggle between pirates and lasers just intensified.


Taken from wired.com, not sure how old this is, but by god that's cool!

Multilazors!

C.S. Goto works for the US Navy now?

It's only a matter of time before all the best Terminators are carrying them around whilst backflipping.

I'll add this to my memory bank of cool American weaponry. Along with the gun that can fire around corners and the 'Shockwave' bomb.

It's remarkable how good we are at designing things that cause pain and suffering!

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:I'll add this to my memory bank of cool American weaponry.

BAE is British.

Along with the gun that can fire around corners and the 'Shockwave' bomb.

Don't think we came up with, or even responsible for having refined those.

....We will take the credit for Maxim, Browning, Stoner, and Barret though.

Here is the weapon.

http://www.baesystems.com/Newsroom/NewsReleases/autoGen_111010105948.html

Its a temporarily damaging laser so I suspect its a high powered strobe light, blinding lasers themselves have been banned by the Geneva conventions. Strobe lasers work by inducing what can best be described as 'photosensitive epilepsy', except that it is powerful enough to work on anyone.

It can also explain why the weapon is considered part of a 'machine gun'.

Anti pirate weapon, yes because it deals with exposed perps on small boats, its not an anti ship weapon by any means.

Ketara wrote:

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:I'll add this to my memory bank of cool American weaponry.

BAE is British.

Yes, I'm aware of that. They do seem to be helping to design it for the US Navy, so I just lump it under US weaponry.....

Going back to the title, can we mount them on sharks yet? Or perhaps dolphins?

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:

Ketara wrote:

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:I'll add this to my memory bank of cool American weaponry.

BAE is British.

Yes, I'm aware of that. They do seem to be helping to design it for the US Navy, so I just lump it under US weaponry.....

"America feth up yeah"

When BAE talked about their new weapon they gave nothing away except the effect. The US Navy just cant keep their dumb mouths shut though, while not giving away what it says directly any armchair analyst can now work out what it does. This is the third time they have done this in recent memory with new tools they have been crowing about, all three of which come from the UK and our side had managed to keep under wraps.
First the railguns and the amount of detail they have let slip away about those and second the stealth destroyers. The latter was a real headache, after keeping the tech secret the US Navy released pictures of the new destroyers with their very different hull shapes out of the water. I don't see what all the flag waving is about, first they didnt invent the stuff, second they are doing this to make themselves look intelligent when in fact all they are doing is looking intensely stupid.
*Strategic facepalm.*

How about angry sea bass?

Or the legendary ocean-dwelling Sea Wiener.

Avatar 720 wrote:Or the legendary ocean-dwelling Sea Wiener.

Wait, that's BTemple0's dog, isn't it!

CHEATER!

I just want to know when these bad boys will be man-portable?
Feth yes!

And my vote goes for the Angry Sea Bass.......

If they backfire and explode, instant Fish and Chips?

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:I just want to know when these bad boys will be man-portable?
Feth yes!

The emitter might be man portable, the power supply is the issue, which is why most 'battlefield' lasers are touted as naval weapons or mounted in heavy lift transports.

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
And my vote goes for the Angry Sea Bass.......

Stonefish. Stealthy, with death from below and a double helping of 'dont tread on me'.

Orlanth wrote:The emitter might be man portable, the power supply is the issue, which is why most 'battlefield' lasers are touted as naval weapons or mounted in heavy lift transports.

You definitely wouldn't want to carry one of the emitters in operation, even if you could solve the power supply issue.

Also, the DOD has mounted lasers in airplanes as anti-ballistic missile devices.

Screw taht. Put it on the horns ofa narwhal.

Angry Sea Bass Laser squads?
Why not US Naval Dolphin squads! They can jump and they are sexual predators awesome.

Angry Sea Bass Laser squads?

At first I read that as:
Angry Sea Bass Laser squids?

OMG now they are genetically engineering mutants to fire these things. But just think of the advantages:
In built ink screening for a cover save
multi tentacles for the multli lasers
Swims backwards and forwards with ease for greater mobility
Change colours for mood and or camo! extra cover save

It's a total win win type situation!

I've seen some picture of the typical pirate ship that attacks larger ships. Would a high calibur rifle be just as good at neutralizing one? I mean even if you don't hit whoever is on deck you still can punch a bunch of holes in one. I would just think that a .50 rifle would cost less than a laser gun.

The power supply is definitely the bottleneck. When these get polished, you'll see the first ones mounted on nuclear ships.

Rented Tritium wrote:The power supply is definitely the bottleneck. When these get polished, you'll see the first ones mounted on nuclear ships.

Is it solar powered like my flashlight?

Orlanth wrote:Here is the weapon.

http://www.baesystems.com/Newsroom/NewsReleases/autoGen_111010105948.html

Its a temporarily damaging laser so I suspect its a high powered strobe light, blinding lasers themselves have been banned by the Geneva conventions. Strobe lasers work by inducing what can best be described as 'photosensitive epilepsy', except that it is powerful enough to work on anyone.

It can also explain why the weapon is considered part of a 'machine gun'.

Anti pirate weapon, yes because it deals with exposed perps on small boats, its not an anti ship weapon by any means.

You are not talking about the same system. The OP specifically mentioned the dazzler and said this weapon was a serious departure.

AustonT wrote:
Anti pirate weapon, yes because it deals with exposed perps on small boats, its not an anti ship weapon by any means.

You are not talking about the same system. The OP specifically mentioned the dazzler and said this weapon was a serious departure.

Orlanth wrote:

Orlanth wrote:
Anti pirate weapon, yes because it deals with exposed perps on small boats, its not an anti ship weapon by any means.

AustonT wrote:You are not talking about the same system. The OP specifically mentioned the dazzler and said this weapon was a serious departure.

It need not be, once you have a stable high powered laser you can apply it for various purposes. You have to read between the lines on defence technology press briefs. Making a stable laser of sufficient size efficiency and power is the hard task, modifying it for various tasks is comparatively simple. If the BAE/Boeing system can pulse then the dazzler can too.

The clues given about the apparent rate of fire give a strong indication on how it works as a 'dazzler'. The UK complied early with the new laws on blinding lasers, and as dazzle would have to mean something intense but not retina damaging then a workable 'pulse laser' is the only thing that ticks all the boxes.

No, and then no again.
I was trying to be brief, but I see that will be ineffective here.
You originally posted this:

Orlanth wrote:Here is the weapon.

http://www.baesystems.com/Newsroom/NewsReleases/autoGen_111010105948.html

Its a temporarily damaging laser so I suspect its a high powered strobe light, blinding lasers themselves have been banned by the Geneva conventions. Strobe lasers work by inducing what can best be described as 'photosensitive epilepsy', except that it is powerful enough to work on anyone.

It can also explain why the weapon is considered part of a 'machine gun'.

Anti pirate weapon, yes because it deals with exposed perps on small boats, its not an anti ship weapon by any means.

I have highlighted the relevant portions

Wired wrote: In late June, the waters of the Choctawatchee Bay near Florida's Elgin Air Force Base stood in for the Gulf of Aden, as ersatz pirate ships "swarmed" amidst dense "civilian" maritime traffic to harass a mock Navy "platform" armed with the laser gun. The enhanced version of the Mk-38 used its lasers to fix the enemy targets for bursts of machine gun fire, before switching up to laser mode to "defeat the targets" with a "high beam-quality 10-kilowatt laser," BAE spokeswoman Stephanie Bissell Serkhoshian told Wired.


With a laser attached, the idea is to blast multiple skiffs more efficiently: A laser of similar kilowatt expenditure can burn through an outboard motor in about a minute, as the Office of Naval Research demonstrated with a different laser system in the California seas back in April.

So yes by means of disabling and making combat ineffective small vessels it is an "anti ship weapon" that doubles as a range finder. It is in fact a maritime evolution of this:

Boeing Laser Avenger is an infrared laser system (with power levels somewhere in the tens of kilowatts range)
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2009/q1/090126a_pr.html

What you are describing falls into this category
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzler_%28weapon%29

It is entirely possible that the weapon demonstrated was a smaller version of the advanced tactical laser. In any event, what you posted and are referencing is not the same as the system referenced in the OP.

It's been in development for a long time, and has good potential as an air or missile defense system to protect our ships from other superpowers.

The navy doesn't need it to fight pirates.

When 7 Somali pirate skiffs engaged the Ashland they didn't know who they were fraking with.

The pirate skiffs have no weapons capable of sinking a ship as large as the Ashland, furthermore pirates have no interest in sinking a ship. Their goal is to board and take over a ship.

The Ashland has a pair of 25mm cannons, a pair of phalanx close in weapon systems, and six 50 cal machine guns to fight off pirate skiffs.

Last but not least if a pirate skiff is able to board the Ashland they are going to run into a very significant problem. The Ashland is an LSD, and the primary function of an LSD is to transport 400 marines and their hovercrafts. Attempting to board a ship carrying 400 marines with a crew of a dozen or so pirates won't end well.

I think the Ashland is more of a test. They know that no Somali is going to go after it, and that makes it the perfect testing place.