Dais guests at the ASNE Long Beach-Greater Los Angeles Section meeting were,
left to right: Capt. Richard Thomas, USN; Lt. Richard D. Hepburn, USN; Mrs.
Debbie Hepburn; Mrs. Sally Skolnick; Capt. J.A. Gildea, USN, section chairman;
Capt. Alfred Skolnick, USN, speaker; John E. Marriner; Craig Smith; Phil Finkel-
stein; Mrs. Verna Finkelstein.
Report On Laser Technology Made To
ASNE Long-Beach-Greater L.A. Section
The first meeting of the 1981-
82 year for the Long Beach-
Greater Los Angeles Section of
ASNE was held recently at the
Los Alamitos Armed Forces Re-
serve Center Officers Club. Fol-
lowing dinner, Capt. J.A. Gildea,
USN, chairman, welcomed the 57
members and guests.
Chairman Gildea next intro-
duced the speaker for the eve-
ning, Capt. Alfred Skolnick, USN,
whose topic was "Laser Devel-
opment and Application to the
U.S. Navy." Captain Skolnick is
project manager of High Energy
Lasers, P.M. 22, of the Naval Sea
Systems Command.
Captain Skolniek's presentation
covered the Navy's application of
high-energy lasers. He reviewed
the laser research and develop-
ment programs of all of the
branches of the military with a
look at the manning effort and
costs of each, rating the Air
Force, Navy and Army in that
order.
He interspersed his talk with
color slides of some of the devel-
opmental work done at TRW's
Mission Viejo facility and cited
the lasers' ability to shoot down
a towed missile that was only 6
inches in diameter and 6 feet
long. He explained that the fo-
cused energy of the laser beam
melted the outer dome cap of
the missile and the molten metal
shorted out the fuse, thus ex-
ploding the missile. He said that
there is currently under devel-
opment a laser which uses a
chemical reaction to create a
high-energy pulse that can be
focused on a target by means of
mirrors. Since the laser is used
to burn or melt the metal of the
target vehicle, the power of the
laser beam must be increased as
the thickness of the metal it is
to attack increases.
On ships or other vehicles hav-
ing plating in excess of half an
inch, present lasers would merely
burn off the paint and do little or
no damage to the metal. Also,
he pointed out, laser beams are
attenuated by atmospheric condi-
tions such as fog, rain, and clouds
and thus have rather severe limi-
tations in low altitude combat
applications. However, he noted,
laser beams in outer space or in
upper atmosphere can be very
effective since vacuum is very
beneficial to laser beam range and
intensity.
While much of the laser devel-
opment is highly classified, Cap-
tain Skolnick said that the Rus-
sians are spending tremendous
amounts of resources in research
and development of the subject.
The U.S. Navy is currently build-
ing a test facility at White Sands
Proving Grounds, New Mexico, to
TUG - Built 1970, gross 198 ton 121'x34'x
15', two 12 cylinder Fairbanks Morse
model 38D8 at 2200 H.P. each. Two
GM671 gen., fully equip, for 10, w-AC.
Extensive nav. and comm. system Deck
machinery all hydraulic byGM671.
BARGE - Built 1970, gross 7,067 tons,
430'x80'x29'. Has 7 dry holds/liquid in
ballast tanks, versatile design for general
cargo/containers. Discharge conveying
system, ABS class A-1 bulk cargo. Unre-
stricted ocean service.
Exclusive Agent-American General Marine—800-227-2497, (415) 383-9500,
TWX-910-384-5003, write 101 Tiburon Blvd., Mill Valley, Calif. 94941.
Mrs. Sally Skolnick, representing ASNE
National Headquarters, speaking to the
September 17, 1981 meeting of the
Long Beach-Greater Los Angeles Section
of ASNE.
further research and develop
laser techniques and applications.
Captain Skolniek's presentation
of the unclassified elements of a
very sophisticated area of cur-
rent technology held the atten-
tion of the audience for almost
an hour, and he further enlight-
ened them in the ensuing ques-
tion and answer session which
followed.
Award $7-Million Overhaul
Contract For USS St. Louis
To Triple A. South
Triple A. South, San Diego,
Calif., has been awarded a $7,-
000,000 formerly advertised firm-
fixed price contract for the reg-
ularly scheduled overhaul of the
USS St. Louis (LKA-116). Work
will be performed in San Diego.
The Naval Sea Systems Command
is the contracting activity. (N62-
791-74-C-0030)
Krupp Atlas Names Bligh
East Coast Regional Mgr.
Paul H. Bligh
It has been announced by Krupp
Atlas Elektronik that Paul H.
Bligh will be their new East
Coast regional manager, head-
quartered in Jersey City, N.J.
His duties will include coordi-
nating all dealer activities as well
as direct sales for all the Atlas
products.
Most recently Mr. Bligh was
employed by Racal-Decca in Flor-
ida in several operations and sales
positions. His most recent posi-
tion for Racal was the sales ad-
ministration manager.
58 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
Digital Wave Publishing