Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The average power of the laser will be in the 1 megawatt (
MW
) range. A megawatt is equal
to 1.0
e
+ 6
W
. Complete technical details for the ABL system are unavailable to the public, but
some of the ABL specifications are shown in Table 14-3. The system mass is for the laser alone
and (obviously) does not include the mass of the airplane.
Table 14-3.
ABL Specifications
Quantity
Value
Laser type
Oxygen-iodine chemical gas
Wavelength
1315 nanometers (infrared)
Average power
1
MW
Range
200-400
km
Beam diameter at target
0.38
m
System mass
8200
kg
SBL
The Space Based Laser, or SBL, is a U.S. Air Force project to develop a space-based high-energy
laser system capable of shooting down ICBMs during their flight.
4
The SBL system is quite
large. It is housed inside a 40
m
long satellite with a diameter of 4.57
m
. The laser beam is
focused using an 8.0
m
diameter mirror.
The SBL uses a deuterium-fluoride chemical gas laser that emits infrared radiation. The
average power of the laser varies between 5 and 10
MW
with an impressive effective range of
4000
km
. A half-scale test model of the SBL is scheduled for testing in 2010. Some of the vital
statistics for the SBL are shown in Table 14-4.
Table 14-4.
SBL Specifications
Quantity
Value
Laser type
Deuterium-fluoride chemical gas
Wavelength
2700 nanometers (infrared)
Average power
5-10
MW
Range
4000
km
Beam diameter at target
0.3-1.0
m
Beam duration
10
s
System mass
35,000
k
g
