L@ser attacks on Aircraft
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Beavis and Butthead
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Lasers have become a particular problem at Manchester recently. Even the Police Helicopter is getting lasered.
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Lasers have become a particular problem at Manchester recently. Even the Police Helicopter is getting lasered.
Gives the scrotes something to do until the ground guys pitch up
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Its getting to be a regular occurrence here in Teesside. Almost very week there is a news report of some chav being arrested for shining a laser. Usually they get away with a slap on the wrist as they were drunk, had a bad childhood or their benefits werent being paid on time
Cynical.. Moi?
Cynical.. Moi?
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Laser pen man dazzled police helicopter pilot while ‘playing with kittens’
Laser pen man dazzled police helicopter pilot while ‘playing with kittens’
Dean Kirby
January 21, 2011
Mobisir Ali was fined £250
An insurance salesman who dazzled a police helicopter pilot with a laser pen claimed he was actually using it to play with kittens.
Mobisir Ali, 23, fired the green-coloured light beam from a hotel window as the Greater Manchester Police helicopter was flying at 1,000ft over Oldham.
Magistrates in the town were told the pilot lost his night vision and he was unable to see his instruments or the skyline for several seconds.
But Ali walked away from court with a £250 fine after it was claimed he was using the laser as a toy for some kittens.
His solicitor told the court: "He said he would point it on the walls and on the floor and the kittens would run around it and pounce on it. When he shone it on the window, it would bounce back to the floor and they would jump back on it."
Ali, of Newport Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Air Navigation Order 2009 of shining a light at a helicopter to distract the pilot.
The court heard that Ali, who lives with his parents, was staying with friends at the Park View Hotel, Glodwick, when it happened on January 9.
The helicopter pilot was flying over the area at 12.50am when he was dazzled by Ali’s laser beam.
Julie Spaven, prosecuting, said: "He said he knew the beam went a long way, but denies he was shining it deliberately at the helicopter."
She said it was trained on the helicopter several times over a period of 10 minutes.
She added: "The light made it difficult for the pilot to see anything for several seconds. "He lost outside reference points which enable him to control the aircraft.
"The beam appeared to be directed nowhere other than the aircraft. It is the prosecution case that it was targeted at the helicopter."
Police traced the beam back to the hotel and Ali was arrested. Two friends said he was playing with kittens. He was detained for 24 hours while officers investigated.
Rebecca Romih, defending, said Ali regularly went to the hotel to socialise with a group of friends.
She said he accepted his behaviour was reckless but denied he was shining the light intentionally at the aircraft.
She added: "He says he had bought it on eBay and used it to play with kittens in this hotel.
"He accepts that, by pointing it out of the window, it could have shined on the aircraft. He has never been before the court before and would apologise for the trouble he has caused."
Ali was fined £250 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. Magistrates ordered that the laser pen be confiscated. Laser pen man dazzled police helicopter pilot while ?playing with kittens? - Manchester Evening News
Dean Kirby
January 21, 2011
Mobisir Ali was fined £250
An insurance salesman who dazzled a police helicopter pilot with a laser pen claimed he was actually using it to play with kittens.
Mobisir Ali, 23, fired the green-coloured light beam from a hotel window as the Greater Manchester Police helicopter was flying at 1,000ft over Oldham.
Magistrates in the town were told the pilot lost his night vision and he was unable to see his instruments or the skyline for several seconds.
But Ali walked away from court with a £250 fine after it was claimed he was using the laser as a toy for some kittens.
His solicitor told the court: "He said he would point it on the walls and on the floor and the kittens would run around it and pounce on it. When he shone it on the window, it would bounce back to the floor and they would jump back on it."
Ali, of Newport Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Air Navigation Order 2009 of shining a light at a helicopter to distract the pilot.
The court heard that Ali, who lives with his parents, was staying with friends at the Park View Hotel, Glodwick, when it happened on January 9.
The helicopter pilot was flying over the area at 12.50am when he was dazzled by Ali’s laser beam.
Julie Spaven, prosecuting, said: "He said he knew the beam went a long way, but denies he was shining it deliberately at the helicopter."
She said it was trained on the helicopter several times over a period of 10 minutes.
She added: "The light made it difficult for the pilot to see anything for several seconds. "He lost outside reference points which enable him to control the aircraft.
"The beam appeared to be directed nowhere other than the aircraft. It is the prosecution case that it was targeted at the helicopter."
Police traced the beam back to the hotel and Ali was arrested. Two friends said he was playing with kittens. He was detained for 24 hours while officers investigated.
Rebecca Romih, defending, said Ali regularly went to the hotel to socialise with a group of friends.
She said he accepted his behaviour was reckless but denied he was shining the light intentionally at the aircraft.
She added: "He says he had bought it on eBay and used it to play with kittens in this hotel.
"He accepts that, by pointing it out of the window, it could have shined on the aircraft. He has never been before the court before and would apologise for the trouble he has caused."
Ali was fined £250 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. Magistrates ordered that the laser pen be confiscated. Laser pen man dazzled police helicopter pilot while ?playing with kittens? - Manchester Evening News
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here's a lot of silly people supporting the use of lasers and saying "they can't blind a pilot" etc"
Laser Incidents With Aircraft On the Rise - Slashdot
Laser Incidents With Aircraft On the Rise - Slashdot
here's a lot of silly people supporting the use of lasers and saying "they can't blind a pilot" etc"
.
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Crippen.
Now that is a ballsy thing to do.
Just going back a few years, the locals used to use halogen mega watts aimed up on approach into Edi.
The point of this is in Manchester in the early nineties spurious radio calls of " go around " were not that unusual.
A permanent removal of benefits is the answer.
Just going back a few years, the locals used to use halogen mega watts aimed up on approach into Edi.
The point of this is in Manchester in the early nineties spurious radio calls of " go around " were not that unusual.
A permanent removal of benefits is the answer.
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250 + 85 +15 pounds?
The magistrate would seem to be suffering from some kind of dementia to accept the kitten story.
If the convict was indeed `playing with kittens', then the illumination of the helicopter would have been fleeting. Through double glazing, and likely a net curtain if it's anything like a normal hotel, the intensity and narrowness of the beam should have been much reduced. If it's an old single-glazed pane, then the irregularities in the glass should have a similar effect.
I don't think it would have taken perry mason to make the case that he was shooting his laser at the police helicopter through an open window.
But even beyond that: a 250 pound fine and 85 pounds for costs? How much does it cost to lock him up for 24 hours to investigate? How much was he (or the legal aid system) charged by his solicitor? What did it cost to have the helicopter crew's vision checked?
If the convict was indeed `playing with kittens', then the illumination of the helicopter would have been fleeting. Through double glazing, and likely a net curtain if it's anything like a normal hotel, the intensity and narrowness of the beam should have been much reduced. If it's an old single-glazed pane, then the irregularities in the glass should have a similar effect.
I don't think it would have taken perry mason to make the case that he was shooting his laser at the police helicopter through an open window.
But even beyond that: a 250 pound fine and 85 pounds for costs? How much does it cost to lock him up for 24 hours to investigate? How much was he (or the legal aid system) charged by his solicitor? What did it cost to have the helicopter crew's vision checked?
Uneasy Pleistocene Leftover
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1) Concerning the insurance salesman who was ostensibly playing with kittens at 1 o'clock in the morning in a hotel room: looks like he got off very lightly, and presumably the "authorities" are maintaining a (very close) watch on the nocturnal activities (or otherwise) of all the occupants of fore-mentionned hotel room...?!
2) glad rag's BBC link about BAE System's new anti-pirate distraction laser system is quite interesting if only for this:
(emphasis added)
Uhmmm, so it's OK to cause "permanent blindness" of your enemy using a bayonet, bullet, artillery, even a "laser-guided weapon" etc., just so long as the "permanent blindness" is also accompanied by death?
Have I got that straight?
PS. And we should all probably reconsider for just how much longer our superior technologies of $2 billion a piece "stealth bombers" and other laser-guided weapons etc. remain viable in view of the low-costs and availability of laser technology today. That is to say, that I can already imagine low-cost "defensive weapons" based on laser-technologies which might be available to any number of adversaries in the next decade. Capable of "blinding" enemy pilots and smart-weapons over "huge swathes of their territories". What would be the point of all those AWAC aircraft then? The Chinese have already proved their capability to "shoot-down" one of their own satellites, how much easier to (if only temporarily) be able to simply blind your adversary's "spy in the sky"...?
2) glad rag's BBC link about BAE System's new anti-pirate distraction laser system is quite interesting if only for this:
The challenge has been to develop a system that can be used safely - but effectively - over long distances at sea, said Mr Hore.
Weapons designed to cause permanent blindness are banned by a United Nations protocol.
Weapons designed to cause permanent blindness are banned by a United Nations protocol.
Uhmmm, so it's OK to cause "permanent blindness" of your enemy using a bayonet, bullet, artillery, even a "laser-guided weapon" etc., just so long as the "permanent blindness" is also accompanied by death?
Have I got that straight?
PS. And we should all probably reconsider for just how much longer our superior technologies of $2 billion a piece "stealth bombers" and other laser-guided weapons etc. remain viable in view of the low-costs and availability of laser technology today. That is to say, that I can already imagine low-cost "defensive weapons" based on laser-technologies which might be available to any number of adversaries in the next decade. Capable of "blinding" enemy pilots and smart-weapons over "huge swathes of their territories". What would be the point of all those AWAC aircraft then? The Chinese have already proved their capability to "shoot-down" one of their own satellites, how much easier to (if only temporarily) be able to simply blind your adversary's "spy in the sky"...?
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Blinding l@sers
Airship,
That's one of the incongruous laws of war. My understanding is that it originates from a post-WWI ban on `blinding weapons', which was intended to prevent the recurrence of the use of gas attacks to leave thousands of infantrymen blind and lung-scarred but not dead. The wording has been interpreted as also outlawing `laser dazzle sights' - lasers powerful enough potentially to blind, but not to punch holes in metal - which I understand were carried aboard Royal Navy ships during the 1991 Gulf War but subsequently removed.
I would be surprised if the anti-pirate system was legal under these terms, since I understand most pirates use telescopes to spy their targets, as they balance on their wooden legs and chat with their parrots, and a telescope would likely turn a non-blinding YAG laser into a blinding YAG laser.
The use of lasers to damage satellites is a straightforward act of war, no different from shooting at them with fast-moving objects. USAF Space Command must be informed, and give permission, before powerful 10W-class YAG lasers can be used to produce adaptive-optics beacons for astronomical telescopes from sites in the USA.
That's one of the incongruous laws of war. My understanding is that it originates from a post-WWI ban on `blinding weapons', which was intended to prevent the recurrence of the use of gas attacks to leave thousands of infantrymen blind and lung-scarred but not dead. The wording has been interpreted as also outlawing `laser dazzle sights' - lasers powerful enough potentially to blind, but not to punch holes in metal - which I understand were carried aboard Royal Navy ships during the 1991 Gulf War but subsequently removed.
I would be surprised if the anti-pirate system was legal under these terms, since I understand most pirates use telescopes to spy their targets, as they balance on their wooden legs and chat with their parrots, and a telescope would likely turn a non-blinding YAG laser into a blinding YAG laser.
The use of lasers to damage satellites is a straightforward act of war, no different from shooting at them with fast-moving objects. USAF Space Command must be informed, and give permission, before powerful 10W-class YAG lasers can be used to produce adaptive-optics beacons for astronomical telescopes from sites in the USA.
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awblain wrote:
And I can almost imagine some obstentious official within our governments of the day (or even several millenia before) having uttered: "But PM (replace as necessary), the country couldn't possibly look after such wounded. They'd be much better off dead." Whatever WWI combatants sufferered, all the millions of them have basically disappeared by now, and we can have a more or less discrete laugh over what they accomplished. 
And look forward to a new century of, uhmmm, mere propoganda in all its' forms...?!
No, it's an act of love, not war. Or, if you prefer, fry them before they fry you. I think.
That's one of the incongruous laws of war. My understanding is that it originates from a post-WWI ban on `blinding weapons', which was intended to prevent the recurrence of the use of gas attacks to leave thousands of infantrymen blind and lung-scarred but not dead
And look forward to a new century of, uhmmm, mere propoganda in all its' forms...?!
The use of lasers to damage satellites is a straightforward act of war, no different from shooting at them with fast-moving objects. USAF Space Command must be informed, and give permission, before powerful 10W-class YAG lasers can be used to produce adaptive-optics beacons for astronomical telescopes from sites in the USA.
If the Gaza flotilla (Mavi Marmara etc) had used such devices in international waters, the outcome of that regrettable incident may have been different.
Proportionality? - green light of a certain character against bullets.....
Proportionality? - green light of a certain character against bullets.....
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Laser yob
Laser yob ‘could have brought down helicopter’
Paul Britton
January 26, 2011
A teenage yob put a police helicopter at risk by shining a laser pen at it. The 16-year-old’s conviction is the latest in a string of recent prosecutions over the offence, which police chiefs say can paralyse aircraft and endanger their crew.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, targeted Greater Manchester Police’s force helicopter, codenamed India 99, as it flew over Higher Blackley on January 14.
He repeatedly shone a bright, green-coloured beam from the laser pen at it, Manchester magistrates court was told.
Prosecutor Satpal Roth said it caused the pilot to be momentarily dazed at 15,000ft and resulted in him losing his night vision. The helicopter’s high-tech instruments were also temporarily impaired, the court heard.
Ms Roth said the pilot and two other crew members on board radioed police colleagues on the ground and the aircraft’s systems were able to direct officers to the source of the beam.
The boy was arrested a short time later.
He pleaded guilty to acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft.
The teenager also admitted a separate public order offence after he swore at officers attending an unrelated incident the day before.
He was fined £250 for both offences and told the court: "I feel stupid and I regret it."
Michael Lyons, chairman of the bench, ordered that the laser should be destroyed and told the teenager his actions could have had ‘potentially devastating consequences’.
He said: "The shining of a laser pen at a helicopter is only going to do one thing. Potentially it is going to bring that helicopter down from the sky."
The teenager said he got the laser pen from a friend. Gemma McGhee, defending, said his actions were ‘foolish and reckless’.
She said: "He did not realise that it was such a powerful instrument.
"He did not even think that the beam would reach up to the helicopter.
"He fully accepts that if the pilot had lost control, anything could have happened."
The court heard the offence could carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Laser yob ?could have brought down helicopter? - Manchester Evening News
Paul Britton
January 26, 2011
A teenage yob put a police helicopter at risk by shining a laser pen at it. The 16-year-old’s conviction is the latest in a string of recent prosecutions over the offence, which police chiefs say can paralyse aircraft and endanger their crew.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, targeted Greater Manchester Police’s force helicopter, codenamed India 99, as it flew over Higher Blackley on January 14.
He repeatedly shone a bright, green-coloured beam from the laser pen at it, Manchester magistrates court was told.
Prosecutor Satpal Roth said it caused the pilot to be momentarily dazed at 15,000ft and resulted in him losing his night vision. The helicopter’s high-tech instruments were also temporarily impaired, the court heard.
Ms Roth said the pilot and two other crew members on board radioed police colleagues on the ground and the aircraft’s systems were able to direct officers to the source of the beam.
The boy was arrested a short time later.
He pleaded guilty to acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft.
The teenager also admitted a separate public order offence after he swore at officers attending an unrelated incident the day before.
He was fined £250 for both offences and told the court: "I feel stupid and I regret it."
Michael Lyons, chairman of the bench, ordered that the laser should be destroyed and told the teenager his actions could have had ‘potentially devastating consequences’.
He said: "The shining of a laser pen at a helicopter is only going to do one thing. Potentially it is going to bring that helicopter down from the sky."
The teenager said he got the laser pen from a friend. Gemma McGhee, defending, said his actions were ‘foolish and reckless’.
She said: "He did not realise that it was such a powerful instrument.
"He did not even think that the beam would reach up to the helicopter.
"He fully accepts that if the pilot had lost control, anything could have happened."
The court heard the offence could carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Laser yob ?could have brought down helicopter? - Manchester Evening News
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We used to get the laser going into Crete all the time. Almost every night turning final we got the green laser. We told the Greek authorites and they did nothing. It is good to see that some counties are doing something about this.