View Full Version : F-15 Lakenheath crew 'disorientated' after laser targeting
Lyneham Lad
4th Mar 2016, 17:06
Just seen this on the BBC news website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-35716722).
The crew of a US fighter jet were "momentarily disorientated" when a laser beam was directed at the plane as it landed in Suffolk.
The US Air Force confirmed the beam was pointed at one of its F-15 Strike Eagle jets as it approached RAF Lakenheath on Wednesday night.
A spokeswoman said although the green light did not hit any of the crew in the eyes they were temporarily disorientated.
The jet landed safely, she said.
There have been many reports of lasers directed at civil aircraft but I have not seen mention of a mil a/c being targeted with a laser before. :(
Hangarshuffle
4th Mar 2016, 17:37
Think it probably goes on more than the military let on. Yeoviltons jungly Sea Kings were targeted during night flying at Merryfield in years past as I recall (or rather I heard it - concede it may have been gloss but that was the story I was told).
But if lasers are so effective I'm amazed more people aren't actually using them against our side in the many conflicts that abound...
CoffmanStarter
4th Mar 2016, 18:15
The people who perpetrate these kind of ASSAULTS are complete and utter idiots. Whilst I appreciate the difficulty of catching and ultimately proving culpability ... If found guilty then punishment should involve a long custodial sentence IMHO.
That said (and I'm not going to provide an example URL), you have to wonder at the need for a private individual to want a 'Pointer' capable of producing a 6000mw/450nm Blue L@ser (a l@ser of this power can start burning things within a few seconds of beam contact). Which has an effective range of >5000m ... Cost c. £200 ... Far simpler to cut off the supply of such kit I would have thought.
Shame the F-15 couldn't do a spot of reverse L@ser Target Designation.
Pontius Navigator
4th Mar 2016, 18:26
HS, works the same as tracer - both ways.
Wander00
4th Mar 2016, 19:12
Serious issue I agree and the idiots need to be stopped. However, less seriously, if Lakenheath had the strobe approach lighting I recall from trying to land a Canberra there 50 years ago they would never have noticed the laser
Innominate
4th Mar 2016, 19:14
ISTR back in the early 1980s Farnborough was investigating ways of protecting military aircrew against high-powered lasers.
Geordie_Expat
4th Mar 2016, 19:54
A Hellfire back down the track could really ruin someone's day.
Pontius Navigator
4th Mar 2016, 20:57
Innominate, we used to use a LTD and had protective googles for use when we might 'see' the laser reflection at certain ranges. Our laser was not in the visible spectrum.
The problem is when you are deliberately lased in a non-threatening environment.
Shaft109
4th Mar 2016, 21:51
In Sandy Woodward's book 100 days he references that at least 1 frigate had a laser device called flasher that could temporarily blind Argentine pilots close in.
I assumed visors are like polarised welding visors that react instantly to certain wavelengths - but seems not
Bob Viking
5th Mar 2016, 04:16
It is sadly more common than you think and it's not just lasers that are a problem.
Ex Anglesey councillor in court charged with endangering RAF jet - Daily Post (http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/ex-anglesey-councillor-court-charged-8214199)
BV
G-CPTN
5th Mar 2016, 05:01
It seems that there was 'history' with Jack Jones:-
Businessman takes a pot shot at RAF 'Hooray Henrys' buzzing his estate at 400mph (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202739/Businessman-takes-pot-shot-RAF-Hooray-Henrys-buzzing-estate-400mph.html).
BEagle
5th Mar 2016, 07:24
As the trial of Mr Jones has been halted, to resume in Jun 2016, I suggest that posters refrain from commenting further.
Lasing of mil aircraft is not uncommon, especially among the helicopter fraternity - some stations have a map of noted lasing incidents and each one is reported through ATC to the police.
As for Mr Jones - his use of the phrase 'Hooray Henry' gives you an insight into his English-hating nature - not untypical of the Viet Taff in N Wales.
4Greens
5th Mar 2016, 08:12
A report suggests that a pair of spectacles have been developed which cuts out the harmful spectrum from a laser.
Stitchbitch
5th Mar 2016, 08:56
You can get civvie spectrum anti laser specs for day and night flying, pm me for more details.
Al-bert
5th Mar 2016, 10:53
his use of the phrase 'Hooray Henry' gives you an insight into his English-hating nature - not untypical of the Viet Taff in N Wales.
Funny how I never met any of the renowned Viet Taff in my nine years service at Valley (spread between 1978 and 1999). I'm guessing they must have been the ones who instantly switched to speaking Welsh the moment you walked into a pub Crab? :ok:
ps I did encounter a few Hooray Henry's though!
BEagle
5th Mar 2016, 12:10
A colleague on my Gnat course popped into a shop in Llangefni. His haircut and general demeanour marked him out as an RAF officer, so a few of the local viet taff switched into their druidic tongue and started discussing what they thought about their visitor, the RAF and England in general...
Mistake.
Chum came from South Wales and spoke fluent Welsh. So after a few minutes he went up to the counter to pay, thanked the ignorant oafs for providing him with some amusement and advised them that they wouldn't be welcome south of the Menai until they'd learned some manners!
In Sandy Woodward's book 100 days he references that at least 1 frigate had a laser device called flasher that could temporarily blind Argentine pilots close in.
Yes, a pre-deployment fit for several years ISTR.
Bob Viking
5th Mar 2016, 13:04
I love it when people spout the myth about Welshies speaking Welsh only when an Englishhman walks in. I will admit that, when I arrived at Valley in 2002, I thought exactly the same (I am English through and through). Then I met and married a Welsh girl and I can assure you that they speak Welsh for no ones benefit but their own. It's their language you see. Would you say the same if you were in France and you heard the locals speaking French?!
The worst people in North Wales are all the visiting Scousers and Mancs but let's not go down that particular rabbit hole.
BV
(A semi-reformed racist!)
chevvron
5th Mar 2016, 13:51
The people who perpetrate these kind of ASSAULTS are complete and utter idiots. Whilst I appreciate the difficulty of catching and ultimately proving culpability ... If found guilty then punishment should involve a long custodial sentence IMHO.
That said (and I'm not going to provide an example URL), you have to wonder at the need for a private individual to want a 'Pointer' capable of producing a 6000mw/450nm Blue L@ser (a l@ser of this power can start burning things within a few seconds of beam contact). Which has an effective range of >5000m ... Cost c. £200 ... Far simpler to cut off the supply of such kit I would have thought.
Shame the F-15 couldn't do a spot of reverse L@ser Target Designation.
Do the guards at Lakenheath not carry M16s nowadays?
Maybe there's a case for developing a system whereby if an aircraft is 'designated' by a laser, it can fire a laser back at the original one.
Geordie_Expat
5th Mar 2016, 14:01
That was what I meant earlier about a Hellfire.
Speedywheels
5th Mar 2016, 14:06
Just seen this on the BBC news website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-35716722).
There have been many reports of lasers directed at civil aircraft but I have not seen mention of a mil a/c being targeted with a laser before. :(
Farm worker jailed for shining laser pen at RAF Tornado - Fife / Local / News / The Courier (http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/farm-worker-jailed-for-shining-laser-pen-at-raf-tornado-1.58205)
Incident at Leuchars over 5 years ago. Thankfully, they traced the culprit and he went to prison. Apparently he had no idea of the potential consequences of his actions :ugh:
PersonFromPorlock
5th Mar 2016, 14:27
Maybe there's a case for developing a system whereby if an aircraft is 'designated' by a l@ser, it can fire a l@ser back at the original one. A corner cube reflector would do that passively; not much power back at the originating site, but maybe just being illuminated would cause second thoughts.
Tourist
5th Mar 2016, 15:12
A corner cube reflector would do that passively; not much power back at the originating site, but maybe just being illuminated would cause second thoughts.
It would have to be really really square to work for a laser....
Al-bert
5th Mar 2016, 17:58
I love it when people spout the myth about Welshies speaking Welsh only when an Englishhman walks in. I will admit that, when I arrived at Valley in 2002, I thought exactly the same (I am English through and through). Then I met and married a Welsh girl and I can assure you that they speak Welsh for no ones benefit but their own. It's their language you see. Would you say the same if you were in France and you heard the locals speaking French?!
The worst people in North Wales are all the visiting Scousers and Mancs but let's not go down that particular rabbit hole.
BV
(A semi-reformed racist!)
I hope you realised I was being sarcastic Bob!:cool:
Brian 48nav
5th Mar 2016, 19:17
It ( speaking the local lingo ) certainly happened in Stornaway. Our firemen were all gaelic speakers which they used whenever they didn't want the 2 English ATCOs, their bosses, to know what they were up to!
No1 son hated school so much there that years later as a Jag Mate it was his burning ambition to go supersonic over the place. Fortunately commonsense stopped him!
I'm guessing they must have been the ones who instantly switched to speaking Welsh the moment you walked into a pub Crab? Yes it happened to me right up to the point I mentioned my surname (which is Welsh) as I had a table booked - then they reverted to English again.
As with Beagle's chum, I had a colleague who was Welsh and a Welsh speaker who did pretty much the same thing when they tried the language switching thing on him.
Since Anglesey is not much more than a large ex-pat English community, I am surprised the resentment is still there since all the wealth and jobs are a result of English investment. How many times has RAF Valley received preferential treatment to keep the local economy propped up?
BEagle
5th Mar 2016, 22:04
It was always amusing listening to good old 'Jones the motor' just up the road from the OM at Valley, when he was conversing with his mechanics in Welsh...
Because the Welsh don't have words for anything modern, such as 'wheel' or 'fire', every other word was English!
Excellent chap though. The throttle cable on my MG Midget went twang one Friday afternoon and I was due to drive to London to visit a girl friend the following morning. But J-t-m delved around in his store and came up with the goods and off I went the next day....
The rest of the weekend was rather a DNCO though :uhoh:
Al-bert
6th Mar 2016, 13:58
Yes it happened to me right up to the point I mentioned my surname (which is Welsh) as I had a table booked - then they reverted to English again
"That'll be Evans the Spy" they'd be saying Crab :E
AreOut
7th Mar 2016, 08:07
A Hellfire back down the track could really ruin someone's day.
launching of even unarmed missile would scare the sh*t out of those f*ckers, laser attacks should really be treated as an attack, pilot could always say it could be a terrorist with a laser guided MANPAD
but just imagine liberal MSM going nuts over it.."Would anybody take care of the children?" Well their parents obviously didn't.
Pontius Navigator
7th Mar 2016, 12:56
No1 son hated school so much there that years later as a Jag Mate it was his burning ambition to go supersonic over the place. Fortunately commonsense stopped him!
Was it common sense or the Jag? :E
melmothtw
7th Mar 2016, 22:27
A report suggests that a pair of spectacles have been developed which cuts out the harmful spectrum from a laser.
I think this is the report - UK outlines extent of laser attacks on military pilots | IHS Jane's 360 (http://www.janes.com/article/57616/uk-outlines-extent-of-laser-attacks-on-military-pilots)
BEagle, your comment about the Welsh language needing to steal words from English reminds me of the (apocryphal) quote attributed to President George W Bush about the French having no word for entrepreneur.
hoss183
8th Mar 2016, 11:36
It would have to be really really square to work for a laser....
They are, its called a retro-reflector, the beam exits at 180 degrees regardless of the orientation over a certain aperture angle.
There is one on the moon left by Apollo, that scientists use to range the moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment
Although the return power will be a fraction of the original, the miscreant would see the return flash, possibly scaring him.