For those interested, the THEL has just been tested in the US against a
Katyusha missile and it worked. Here's my ISP's news page with the details:
http://www.xtra.co.nz/homepage/news/main/0,1081,News%3AWorld+News%3A2264
26,0 0.html?
If that URL doesn't work, try this:
http://www.xtra.co.nz/homepage/index/
Scroll down to: THE WORLD TODAY the scroll to: Laser Shoots Down Rocket then
after: First step for US Star Wars system click on:
more...
There's undoubtedly a better URL for this somewhere.
Andrew Martin wrote
> For those interested, the THEL has just been tested in the US
Interesting indeed.
Still, the report begs quite a number of questions:
1) This sounds very much like the usual optimistic weapon's lobby
announcements of a weapon's capability.
2) Presumably the defenders knew the direction the rocket was coming from and
set up their equipment accordingly.
3) Was it the first (and only) test? Or just the one successful one out of a
hundred trials?
4) They hit one missile, such as a bunch of Guerrillas might set up. How would
the system perform against a real Kayusha salvo, 10 or so missiles fired in
rapid succession? With submunition warheads?
5) What happened to the shell splinters from the shot-down missile ?
Better keep your helmets on :-(
6) Hitting something a few miles away is rather easier than hitting and
destroying something a few thousand miles away. So much for the Star Wars
aspect of this.
7) How would the system react to a shell exploding nearby? Optics don't
usually like being shaken.
This is not to say that't it would be a worthless weapon, just that an enemy
who works hard enough at it will find ways to deal with it.
Greetings Karl Heinz