Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/8116825
A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) raised the question of whether Russia might be emboldened to fire a NSNW in the belief that the West lacks the resolve to deliver a nuclear response.
I get what you are saying, but exposure time is directly related to speed and range in the context of the laser systems I was referring to. I’ll explain below and try to call out my own knowledge gaps as well.
I knew we had satellite killers, but I didn’t think those were practical enough to be deployed in an effective capacity yet. If there are, that would be neat.
For the smaller systems, I am only aware of the Israeli laser systems used to supplement their “iron dome” and some of the ones the US has on their ships. Both of those, I thought, only had an max effective range of about 2km, but only because of average atmospheric conditions. (And maybe even beam dispersion or something? That is a guess.) 2km @ mach 6 is 2 seconds of exposure time provided that the target acquired in advance.
It just makes more sense that those two laser systems are used to supplement a larger defense strategy. My mistake if I implied that they would completely solve any issues and not have consequences. Sure, the rocket, morter or whatever may not hit its primary target, but anything else could be considered a secondary target, I suppose.
(If I said anything stupid, just call me out. I like discussions about these kinds of things.)