Re: Laser snipers

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On Mon, 17 Sep 2001, Chris DeBoe wrote:

> SG says snipers sometimes carry laser weapons.  However, I recall a
> discussion in which it was said the x-ray lasers so beloved of my
Traveller
> characters would hardly be silent/invisible--more like a lightning
bolt.
> Don't know whether that was accurate, though.
>
> So, questions for you educated blokes:
> a. would/could a military laser weapon be invisible/inaudible?  Or
would it
> be useless to snipers due to signature?  (assumes a standard Earth
> atmosphere with no unusual components)

I think this would depend on what you'd try to accomplish. Blinding
someone would be as much of a 'mission kill' as anyuthing else, and this
is certainly feasible without the above mentioned effects.

> b. in a zero gee environment, would lasers have *no* recoil?	This
doesn't
> seem logical because we've talked about a lasers as a ship drive, so
there
> has to be some recoil....but how much?  Either as compared to a rifle,
or in
> SI units.

Mmmm. Good one, need to think on it.

Cheers,

   Derk
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