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**AntonioXYZ** · 11-05-2007, 02:43 AM

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Missiles can continue ballistically without consuming fuel, so they can travel much longer distances.

Do you know how long it would take a missile going at non-relativistic speeds to hit a target that's "far away" (several light-seconds) for a laser? A fairly long time, But so what, its not like the ships will be moving faster than the missiles will.

Overkill. Most of the energy from the laser will pass through the ship, while the warhead will vaporize the entire ship.

Lasers don't cut through ships. When the laser hits it vaporizes the surface it hits, but it doesn't annihilate the surface. The matter is still there and it continues to absorb most of the rest of the laser. Given the duration of the laser (probably a very small fraction of a second), this amounts to almost all of the energy of the laser deposited at one point on the surface of the ship at one instant. Let me first say that this is shaping up to be one hell of a beam weapon. It can deliver atleast a megaton in a 20th of a second. That is damned impressive from every angle.

But there is still no way that the matter will absorb all that energy, and most of it is going out the other side of the ship.

Atmosphere behind the plating that just got vaporized will push it out.

Wrong timescale. That effect takes orders of magnitude longer than the duration of the beam. There are 15 pounds of pressure per square inch exerting a constant outward push on the hull, the instant the hull can't hold it back it is pushing outward. It is anyone's guess how far away the vaporized matter will get before transfering what energy it has absorbed to the ship, but it isn't going to deliver all of its energy there.

11-05-2007, 02:43 AM	#30
AntonioXYZ Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 425 Senior Member	Originally posted by Kuciwalker Missiles can continue ballistically without consuming fuel, so they can travel much longer distances. Do you know how long it would take a missile going at non-relativistic speeds to hit a target that's "far away" (several light-seconds) for a laser? A fairly long time, But so what, its not like the ships will be moving faster than the missiles will. Overkill. Most of the energy from the laser will pass through the ship, while the warhead will vaporize the entire ship. Lasers don't cut through ships. When the laser hits it vaporizes the surface it hits, but it doesn't annihilate the surface. The matter is still there and it continues to absorb most of the rest of the laser. Given the duration of the laser (probably a very small fraction of a second), this amounts to almost all of the energy of the laser deposited at one point on the surface of the ship at one instant. Let me first say that this is shaping up to be one hell of a beam weapon. It can deliver atleast a megaton in a 20th of a second. That is damned impressive from every angle. But there is still no way that the matter will absorb all that energy, and most of it is going out the other side of the ship. Atmosphere behind the plating that just got vaporized will push it out. Wrong timescale. That effect takes orders of magnitude longer than the duration of the beam. There are 15 pounds of pressure per square inch exerting a constant outward push on the hull, the instant the hull can't hold it back it is pushing outward. It is anyone's guess how far away the vaporized matter will get before transfering what energy it has absorbed to the ship, but it isn't going to deliver all of its energy there.
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