[sci.military] Laser Designators

fsbgf@acad3.alaska.edu (01/19/91)

From: fsbgf@acad3.alaska.edu
I heard a rumor during the attack on Iraq that the U.S. Military was using
satellites to designate targets using laser beams....
I was wondering if this was true, and if so has this method been used before??
Any unclassified information which could help answer my questions would be
much appreciated. Thanks....
					Brandon France
					fsbgf@acad3.alaska.edu

henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (01/22/91)

From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
>From: fsbgf@acad3.alaska.edu
>I heard a rumor during the attack on Iraq that the U.S. Military was using
>satellites to designate targets using laser beams....

I'd class this as very unlikely.  The idea is not ridiculous, but the US
satellite fleet is a handful of very big and very expensive satellites
dedicated to strategic missions, not the swarm of small ones that would be
needed to have satellites "on call" for such tactical uses.
-- 
If the Space Shuttle was the answer,   | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
what was the question?                 |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry