Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage(en.wikipedia.org)
en.wikipedia.org
Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage
3 comments
Back in the 1980s people thought about using these to power a big-ass free electron laser to blast nuclear missiles out of the sky.
Amazing application and manifestation of induction (storing electrical energy in a magnetic field)! What happened to the idea? Did it go anywhere?
It wasn’t the magnet that was the problem or even the laser but instead the system-level problem of SDI.
It was believed then that the best strategy was to shoot down missiles in the boost phase which is 90 seconds over enemy territory. Trouble is that you have to work very quick to accomplish that and have assets in orbit if the threat is a big country like the USSR.
Before then ABM systems used nuclear tipped interceptors at the terminal phase, the U.S. build one called Safeguard and then shut it down, treaties allowed the Russians to have just one and I think they still have one at Moscow.
Currently the U.S. has missile boats that can intercept many missiles at mid course, the previous two systems rejected this because an ICBM could carry a huge number of decoys that are hard to separate from the warheads. Either this problem is solved, willfully ignored or some combination.
That ground-based FEL would have the problem of being based on friendly territory, thus terminal defense and vulnerable to poor atmospheric conditions such as clouds. An airborne laser seems to be the best option, can be either terminal or boost if you can get close to the enemy (short range missile). It has been proven with a toxic and dangerous COIL laser, and may get revised if and when electrically powered fiber lasers improve sufficiently.
It was believed then that the best strategy was to shoot down missiles in the boost phase which is 90 seconds over enemy territory. Trouble is that you have to work very quick to accomplish that and have assets in orbit if the threat is a big country like the USSR.
Before then ABM systems used nuclear tipped interceptors at the terminal phase, the U.S. build one called Safeguard and then shut it down, treaties allowed the Russians to have just one and I think they still have one at Moscow.
Currently the U.S. has missile boats that can intercept many missiles at mid course, the previous two systems rejected this because an ICBM could carry a huge number of decoys that are hard to separate from the warheads. Either this problem is solved, willfully ignored or some combination.
That ground-based FEL would have the problem of being based on friendly territory, thus terminal defense and vulnerable to poor atmospheric conditions such as clouds. An airborne laser seems to be the best option, can be either terminal or boost if you can get close to the enemy (short range missile). It has been proven with a toxic and dangerous COIL laser, and may get revised if and when electrically powered fiber lasers improve sufficiently.