Imagine: 500 Miles Per Gallon

[Rich Grise]

But if Black Hat launches an intercontinental ballistic missile, and
White Hat has an airborne laser,
http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/abl.htm
then he can shoot down the missile while it's in boost phase.

... or maybe not. He has to put enough heat into a small area on the
rocket to damage it. This requires some darn good shooting. Doubly so if
the target is spinning, because you have to get it all into one punch.
[...]

In fact, I'm currently working on tooling for the components of the
ABL, and it's OK, even though I'm a pacifist, because it is the only
weapon ever devised so far that can _ONLY_ be used for defense. The
laser is useless below about 30,000 feet because of atmospheric
scatter.

It could be used to shoot down someone's aircraft, so it isn't perfectly a
defensive weapon.

It doesn't really "shooot down" the missiles. Even though it's a very
powerful laser, all it does is warm up a spot on the side of the rocket
motor, weakening it, and it blows itself up from the internal pressure,
somewhat like the Challenger. A spacecraft would just shrug it off -
the craft gets more energy from the sun than from the laser, and they
seem to have no problem dissipating that.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[kell]

But if Black Hat launches an intercontinental ballistic missile, and
White Hat has an airborne laser,
http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/abl.htm
then he can shoot down the missile while it's in boost phase.

They're spending my money on this comic-book stuff, and you're getting
the paycheck, Grise. I'm disappointed in you! [Insert emoticon of
your choice here]

 

[Ken Smith]

It could be used to shoot down someone's aircraft, so it isn't perfectly a
defensive weapon.

It doesn't really "shooot down" the missiles. Even though it's a very
powerful laser, all it does is warm up a spot on the side of the rocket
motor, weakening it, and it blows itself up from the internal pressure,
somewhat like the Challenger. A spacecraft would just shrug it off -
the craft gets more energy from the sun than from the laser, and they
seem to have no problem dissipating that.[/QUOTE]

The same can apply for shooting down an aircraft. If you make a weak spot
in the right place, or small set of spaces, the aircraft will come down.