"Particle Beam Weapons" Topic

"One of the mission statements of FWS is to catalog and define the weapons used in science fiction, making this a resource for creators of military sci-fi and sci-fi in general. This blogpost about Particle beam weapons is a continuation of that mission. Unlike other well-known and over-used futuristic weapons, Particle beam weapons are much more rare, and often mislabeled in science fiction works. In the real world (which is boring), Particle beam weapons have been experimented with (in a military sense) since Nikola Tesla proposed a "teleforce weapon" in 1934, and more recently with Operation: Seesaw in 1958, SDI of the 1980's, and 2010 construction of an Air Force beam lab at Kirkland AF base with help from Sandia. However, at the moment, Particle DEW are unlikely due to their need for millions (or billions) of volts and massive megawatts that weapons-grade Particle beam would require.

On a personal note, this was a very enjoyable blogpost to research, since I knew very little about Particle beam weapons going into this one…"

From Future War Stories Blog

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Armand

Yeah, geeks get into arguments all the time that a laser and particle beam are not the same weapon.

And aren't the Star Wars blasters identified as a particle beam weapon? Some where I had heard they're firing plasma bolts others said it's particle bolt.

I think I'd argue that Star Wars blasters fire a pulse of charged gas. They're pretty slow moving and some sources put Cloud City on Bespin as a source of "tibana gas" which is used in blasters.

Thanks.

Armand