Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!rutgers!bellcore!att!cbnews!military From: dave@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Dave Goldblatt) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Particle Beam Gun Message-ID: <10270@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 16 Oct 89 01:38:05 GMT References: <10149@cbnews.ATT.COM> <10184@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Clarkson University, Potsdam NY Lines: 36 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Dave Goldblatt In article <10184@cbnews.ATT.COM> brown@ncratl.Atlanta.NCR.COM (Kyle Brown) writes: >There are some *major* problems with using particle beams as weapons. >Not the least of which is that the power required to make a particle beam >do anything interesting (say cut through armor more than paper thin) is >in the megawatt range. Also, Proton beams are the only candidates for such >weapons, and these are *not* easy to generate or play with (any plasma >physicists out there want to elaborate?) Well, when I was working on such an (unclassified) project a few years ago, the idea was not necessarily to cut through missiles (for example), but to destroy the electronics inside by exposure to the particle radiation. This would not require anywhere near as much power as actually slicing up the target would. I understand that this is currently a feasible SDI project now. >This topic will have to stay in rec.arts.sf-lovers for a couple o' decades Well, at least a few more years. :-) >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >"Earth: Mostly Harmless." -- The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy >brown@ncratl.atlanta.ncr.com -dg- (Save the F-14D Super Tomcat!) -- Internet: dave@sun.soe.clarkson.edu or: dave@clutx.clarkson.edu BITNET: dave@CLUTX.Bitnet uucp: {rpics, gould}!clutx!dave Matrix: Dave Goldblatt @ 1:260/360 ICBM: 75 02 00W 44 38 12N