Ultra-short duration pulse lasers

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by GURPS Fox

Yeah, one of the things I remember is that 'after a certain point, pulse lasers don't look like lasers but kinetic weapons in terms of damage'...

Note though that that's not a statement of their great penetration. Hypervelocity kinetic weapons deliver a huge amount of energy but don't convert it to penetration well. They explosively crater on impact instead of being able to stab into the surface.

Originally Posted by GURPS Fox

Interesting... then again, from what I've gathered, UV wavelengths also have that ability, as they can penetrate plasma sheaths of hypersonic objects (like, say, hypersonic missiles or reentry vehicles...).

If you look inside the link, it describes the relevant wavelengths as "vacuum ultraviolet, extreme ultraviolet, and soft x-ray"

[GURPS Fox]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Note though that that's not a statement of their great penetration. Hypervelocity kinetic weapons deliver a huge amount of energy but don't convert it to penetration well. They explosively crater on impact instead of being able to stab into the surface.

True enough... must have gotten some memories mixed up then. :\

If you look inside the link, it describes the relevant wavelengths as "vacuum ultraviolet, extreme ultraviolet, and soft x-ray"

From what I understand, for plasma sheaths, it's UV in general...