From: Adam <""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the field.near
the bridge">

Monte Davis wrote:
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote:
>
>> Through 9/11, the THEL demonstrator detected, tracked and shot down 28
>> Katyusha rockets.  The MTHEL Test Bed, through changes to its acquisition
>> and tracking software, also successfully hit five artillery projectiles in
>> flight.  "We've just turned science-fiction into
reality," an Army general
>> said...
>
> THEL hardware is sitting in a warehouse, among other reasons because
> field commanders -- US as well as IDF -- have a weak-kneed,
> lily-livered, Islamofascist-appeasing reluctance to operate in a
> target zone with six (count 'em six) schoolbus-sized vehicles, four of
> which are filled with pressurized, volatile, toxic and/or corrosive
> substances. As it's a point-defense system, you would *by definition*
> be in a target zone.
>

Indeed. & the fun thing wrt short range rockets is that......they are
mostly fired as they say "en masse".

Oh the joy of shooting down the first 10 & realising that you'd tackled
about 5% of the incoming.....

> Energy storage density and high power-handling needs have always been
> the stumbling blocks for kewl light sabers, from THEL to the USAF's
> missile-zapping plane to orbital battle stations. They all really
> demand a hyperultrasuperduper battery. That, of course, would
> revolutionize many technologies; it has been and is being sought far
> beyond defense applications.
>

Maybe they could fit a THEL to a lexus hybrid?

> That doesn't preclude this choice sample of mututal pimpery, by a
> long-time champion of directed energy weapons, for an organ of both
> the go-Israel-go! and go-miltech-go! camps:
>

> http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16135
>

You have to wonder with ending comments such as:

"Congress should provide emergency supplemental funding to rush THEL
into production."

wether the whole piece is a piss take. Yeah "rushing" a vastly
advanced, vastly risky weapon system into production has always worked in
the past........




Adam

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