USN Free Electron Laser and Railgun - Cancelled.

[C.Puffs]

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011...laser-railgun/

"The Senate just drove a stake into the Navy’s high-tech heart. The directed energy and electromagnetic weapons intended to protect the surface ships of the future? Terminated.
The Free Electron Laser and the Electromagnetic Railgun are experimental weapons that the Navy hope will one day burn missiles careening toward their ships out of the sky and fire bullets at hypersonic speeds at targets thousands of miles away. Neither will be ready until at least the 2020s, the Navy estimates. But the Senate Armed Services Committee has a better delivery date in mind: never."

Yeah, zero the money. That'll certainly increase the odds of perfecting them.

[Token White Guy]

WTF are they thinking?! This technology is the future of our Navy. Get these incompetent old farts out of office!

[BigglesR]

Surprise, surprise. Even superpower cant't get everything, at once. It's not like that all research in that field will stop. Probably there is low probability for technological breakthough right now even with proper financing.

[Halidon]

Fairly good odds this funding will be restored in the House, and possibly it could return before the budget leaves the Senate.

Nice picture of the blitzer.

[Soldat_Américain]

Sweet...we're fvcked.

[Hellfish]

You guys are whiny bitches.

[bababooey]

You guys are whiny bitches.

x2...................

[Fb74]

Maybe if they cancelled them it's because they've got something else... better... ?

[deathil93]

Simple logic, throw money at it and than cancel it...

Maybe if they cancelled them it's because they've got something else... better... ?

They don't, unless they got the tech from the Iranian plasma stealth thrust vectoring space submarine.

[Soldat_Américain]

You guys are whiny bitches.

But I like big guns more than missiles...

[Amur_Tiger]

But I like big guns more than missiles...

Unfortunately our preferences don't make economic sense, as much as I like seeing development in these particular areas and think that the navy will be at the forefront of actually deploying these I do think it makes sense to put this on hold until there's a more critical need for such weaponry or the budget gets into better shape.

Simple logic, throw money at it and than cancel it...

Most of the work seems to be working out the basic technical issues with these types of weapons and improving efficiency, cancelling it now, even if they never return to a project with the specific requirements this one had will still leave a lot of engineering solutions that can be used for other laser/railgun projects in the future.

[The Left Hand of God]

Fvcking bastards, probably the same morons who are eager to cancel the F-35 program.

Unfortunately our preferences don't make economic sense, as much as I like seeing development in these particular areas and think that the navy will be at the forefront of actually deploying these I do think it makes sense to put this on hold until there's a more critical need for such weaponry or the budget gets into better shape.

That sort of thinking is what got us bankrupt in pretty much every major war we fought, while we were still a monarchy.

[Amur_Tiger]

That sort of thinking is what got us bankrupt in pretty much every major war we fought, while we were still a monarchy.

Ok? Good for.. Brazil? This is the US we're talking about here who spends roughly the same amount as the rest of the world combined, the specific weaponry in question is decades away from being put on a ship and in both cases would be replacing existing systems that nobody seems to be complaining about the performance of.

[The Left Hand of God]

Ok? Good for.. Brazil? This is the US we're talking about here who spends roughly the same amount as the rest of the world combined, the specific weaponry in question is decades away from being put on a ship and in both cases would be replacing existing systems that nobody seems to be complaining about the performance of.

My point here is that it's a huge mistake not to plan ahead considering future scenarios.

[C.Puffs]

You guys are whiny bitches.

Yeah, let's wait until we need them to develop them. I'm sure it will be as easy as picking an apple from the tree. Nevermind that we've been trying to get them to work since the 80's. I'm sure we'll figure it out just in time.