RE: Further thoughts on hitting with lasers

On Wednesday, February 25, 1998 1:18 PM, BEST, David
[SMTP:dbest@shl.com] wrote:
> Hi Roger!
> 
> My point was that at the combat distance we are concerned with - maybe
> 200 miles - you probably are not going to miss. Even with the possible
> acceleration rates.
>

Taking one MU = 1000km (the official unoffical MU scale) then an A
battery
goes out to 36,000 km, futher than 200 miles but still near instant for
light.

I'd always thought that a 1000 metre ships going to be a very small
target at 36,000 km. Even a very small movement of the laser barrel
will transfer to several Km the other end,  it was this slack in the
targeting system and weaponary mechanics that gave us the possibility
of missing the taget. Also offensive particle beams will probably be 
a fraction slower than C (speed of light) and will probably loose 
power over distance as they de-focus (attenuate?).

Our most accurate current similar pointy targetting devices *now* 
I suppose are telescopes. I don't know how long it takes to lock onto a
small 
fast moving target in earth orbit such as a satellite or MIR but suspect
its not 
that easy?

sincerely
tim jones
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Reality is for those who can't cope with Science Fiction.