From: utzoo!watmath!watarts!geo
Newsgroups: net.space
Title: Re: Hot Light or Hot Air?
Article-I.D.: watarts.1809
Posted: Tue May  3 18:48:20 1983
Received: Wed May  4 00:22:28 1983
Reply-To: geo@watarts.uucp (Geo Swan)
References: populi.561

In his origninal article (populi.561) John Hevelin quotes the December
1981 Sci Am article on DEW (directed energy weapons), by Kosta Tsipsis.
He praises the article, and asks if anyone knows any reason why this
should not be considered the last word on fry in the sky laser beams.

I also found this a very good article, and I would have considered it
the latest word until I read an article in fa.arms-d a couple of months
ago.  The article described a new scheme someone had dreamed up.

The weapon consisted of a hydrogen bomb surrounded by rods that lased in
the X-ray frequencies.  The rods were to be steerable, when many of them
were pointing at ICBMs the bomb was supposed to go off, pulsing the rods
and stimulating them to lase, thus zapping the missiles.  (Remember ruby
lasers?  They were pulsed lasers.) I forget what percentage of the
energy released by the explosion was supposed to be transmitted by the
lasers.  I recall it was a fairly large fraction.

Tsipsis did not mention these devices.

        Cordially, Geo Swan, Integrated Studies, University of Waterloo
        (allegra|decvax) !watmath!watarts!geo