[pipittujbk]

Trolling the internets the other day I came across this article on WIRED.

Army Turns to Lasers for Copter Defense

Some jerk has fired a heat-seeking missile at your Black Hawk. You’ve got a few options. You can try to dodge the thing, but good luck with that. You can fire off a flare in order to fool the missile into no longer following you as you maneuver. Or you can shoot off a laser from on board your bird to do the same thing. Not really a choice, is it?

OK, so Black Hawks and other military copters don’t have lasers yet. But a University of Michigan professor with a million dollars in Darpa and Army money is building a highly portable laser to keep U.S. helicopters protected from insurgents wielding shoulder-fired missiles. “It’s a jamming laser, not a knock-it-out-of-the-sky laser,” explains its creator, Mohammed Islam, a little sheepishly.

Islam’s Mid-Infrared Supercontinuum Laser (MISL, get it?), pictured below, is still in the prototype stage, so its effectiveness isn’t yet proven. But it’s got some advantages over existing military laser tech. Namely: You can fit it onto a helicopter, it won’t break, and it’s cheap.

Gene Roddenberry promised us energy weapon firepower in the form of a sidearm. But it turns out lasers are tragically heavy. The Airborne Laser might be able to shoot a ballistic missile out of the sky, but it’s so corpulent that it barely fits into a Boeing 747. It’s just “too large and expensive to field in large numbers on many operational airborne platforms,” sighed the Missile Defense Agency. The Pentagon is still stumped for portable alternatives.

Enter Islam’s MISL. It’s about the size of a DVD player, meaning you can screw it onto an onboard console. We’re not talking about needing a separate laser-equipped jet to pop out from behind the Afghan mountains on-demand and zap Taliban. Not that that happens anyway.

Read More Army Turns to Lasers for Copter Defense | Danger Room | Wired.com What strikes me as ironic is the University of Michigan professor's name, Mohammed Islam. What do you want to bet that he's also a Muslim?

Let's hope his research is successful, and his lasers someday save countless American lives on the battlefield. And they will owe their lives to a University professor named Mohammed Islam.

[Charryith]

So?

It's an interesting idea, though by only burning out the seeker you still have a dangerous supersonic projectile flying around.

[Muhabsssa]

Trolling the internets the other day I came across this article on WIRED.



What strikes me as ironic is the University of Michigan professor's name, Mohammed Islam. What do you want to bet that he's also a Muslim?

Let's hope his research is successful, and his lasers someday save countless American lives on the battlefield. And they will owe their lives to a University professor named Mohammed Islam.

I wouldn't bet on it. Mohammed is an extremely common first name amongst people of Arab descent and in the white pages directory of the US alone there are over 5,000 people listed with the surname Islam.(Islam).

It's not like everyone called Chris or Christian or Christine, etc. is a christian either.

One can infer nothing from a name about the individual carrying it.

[Kokomoxcv]

I wouldn't bet on it. Mohammed is an extremely common first name amongst people of Arab descent and in the white pages directory of the US alone there are over 5,000 people listed with the surname Islam.(Islam).

It's not like everyone called Chris or Christian or Christine, etc. is a christian either.

One can infer nothing from a name about the individual carrying it.

I would definitely bet on it. While not a 100% sure thing, I'd bet that 999 of every 1000 men named Mohamed Islam are ethnic Muslims. Maybe non practicing or converts, but I can't see a Jew naming his son Mohamed Islam.

[maxuilg]

Actually anyone who holds the name Mohamed or Islam is a Muslim. I am 100% sure of it. Non of the other abrahimic religions believe Mohammed is the last prophet or messenger.

So lets not strip this professor off his religion (Islam) just because he is doing something good for America. There are many Muslims who have done nothing but good for America.

WS.

[kSmica]

Culturally "muslim"? That seems pretty weird. It's a religion, you are either a practitioner or you aren't.

[Scukonahuy]

Culturally "muslim"? That seems pretty weird. It's a religion, you are either a practitioner or you aren't.

I believe he said "ethnic Muslim." And yes, I, too, struggled to imagine such a thing.

[g4YthYXx]

Let's hope his research is successful, and his lasers someday save countless American lives on the battlefield. And they will owe their lives to a University professor named Mohammed Islam.

This is awesome.

Ironically, I also knew a terrorist guy whose name is Jesus Christian. Coincidence? I think not!

[invasuant]

Actually anyone who holds the name Mohamed or Islam is a Muslim.

I know a guy named Mohamed; owns the local smoke shop. He's from Iraq. He's Chaldean. He is not, nor was he ever, a Muslim...