The Plasma Gun is NATO's new weapon. Free Technical Library News

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Plasma gun - a new NATO weapon

30.07.2012

Scientists from the Picatinny Arsenal continue to work on an unusual type of weapon using a laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC). The bottom line is to use a laser beam, which "tears" electrons from air molecules and creates a plasma conductive cord that destroys equipment and manpower.

LIPC lead scientist George Fisher shared the barest details of this secret project: "We can create a very short laser pulse with tremendous energy. In 2-3 trillionths of a second, you can fit energy that exceeds the needs of an entire city."

This nanosecond electrical pulse (nsEP) can be a very powerful weapon. The Pentagon wants to use it to send up to 50 billion watts of optical / electrical power to the target. This is much more than any existing combat laser with a power of about 100-1000 kW. The most powerful nsEP will be able to instantly kill any living creature. Its effect on armored vehicles and fortifications has yet to be studied - it all depends on the power and duration of the pulse.

At present, military scientists have faced a number of serious technological barriers to the creation of LIPC. The plasma channel, which must be learned to keep stable at least for a short time and direct it at the same time to the target, self-destructs. In addition, there is a danger that during the formation of the channel and focusing the beam on the air, the energy will destroy the optical system of the laser and hit the shooters themselves.

It is necessary to reduce the load on the optical systems and keep it at a low level until a plasma channel is formed and energy flows to the target. There are also other problems, in particular the synchronization of the laser with high voltage, the creation of capacious power sources and a reliable field device, that is, the weapon itself. It is possible that a number of these problems will be solved using the most powerful NIF pulsed laser, which recently set a record for laser pulse power.

Apparently, the future plasma-laser gun will be quite large and will only fit on ships or trucks. However, the advantages that it promises on the battlefield will more than pay off the dimensions and huge power consumption.

It is possible that a number of these problems will be solved using the most powerful NIF pulsed laser, which recently set a record for laser pulse power.

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