The U.S. Navy recently tested the world’s first-ever active laser weapons system, which is now deployed and ready for war.
The system has special materials that release photons, and, at the speed of light, it silently hits an object, burning it to a temperature of thousands of degrees. Each strike travels 50,000 times the speed of an incoming ICBM.
In one test, a drone’s wing caught fire after being hit by the LaWS, leading it to crash into the sea.
“We don’t worry about wind, we don’t worry about range, we don’t worry about anything else. We’re able to engage the targets at the speed of light,” Lt. Cale Hughes, a laser weapons system officer, told CNN.
“We’re doing that engagement at the speed of light so it really is a point and shoot—we see it, we focus on it, and we can negate that target,” he added.
Its cost per use is also quite impressive for such a revolutionary new weapon: approximately $1 per shot. The $40 million system requires electrical power and a three-man team.
The LaWS is also extremely accurate. The system can target a single component of an enemy target, such as a boat’s engine, and make it catch fire so that the entire vessel does not have to be destroyed and the Navy can avoid collateral damage.
“I can aim that at any particular spot on a target, and disable and destroy as necessary,” said Christopher Wells, captain of the USS Ponce. “It reduces collateral damage—I no longer have to worry about rounds that may go beyond the target and potentially hurt or damage things that I don’t want to hurt or damage.”
HT/ All Too Much
Great. How many years before terrorists get hold of this an point them at civilian aircraft?
…..and (crap news network) classified this story under “politics”. So science and technology is now political?
I need one of these for my morning commute.
$1 per shot? Oh, they’re going to enjoy this.
“The U.S. Navy is currently developing a DIY LaWS kit to sell on their Etsy page. Batteries not included.”
What they need to do next is create a hybrid LaWS rail gun that shoots 3,000-degree bullets. YESSSSSS
“We’re not exactly sure what happened to Iran, sir. It is possible that we were scanning the area with the scope on the LaWS system and accidentally left the weapon on.”
High energy microwave guns are next.
And just like that, dealing with North Korea turned into a game of Duck Hunt.
Flashlight tag just got real.
Next up: weaponized smores.
E. E. “Doc” Smith, Robert A. Heinlein, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon etc. were prophetic about the eventual development of ray guns. And who says that sci fi isn’t relevant, I love the old space operas. Fantastic sure but a I had a whole lot of fun and grew a wild imagination growing up reading them.
We have the laser and rail weapons, but there is no radar that can track a hyperglide vehicle traveling at Mach 8. As per open sources, only the ChiComs are working on quantum entanglement “radar” and its years away from deployment. But it would also delete stealth technology.
You still need MAD to hold an adversary’s homeland under threat. That will always take WMD….or muslims (a form of WMD).
Visual aiming, at least partly, radar if helpful could be of most any type and located remotely so as not to encourage incoming fire.
Geoff,
The question really is; would we have had flip phones here in the past if the Enterprise hadn’t had them in the future?
“Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.”
Yeah, give me one of dat …
Navy gets the coolest shit.
izlamo delenda est …
Defeated by highly polished deflectors?
“Spock…arm the Photon Torpedos!”
I hope they don’t take the acronym seriously.
“we can negate that target”
Translation: We do what the military does – break shit and kill people. Hoo rah.
“Frickin’ LASER beams!”
Organgrinder, heard years ago we don’t develop a weapon system until we know how to defeat it.
“… but there is no radar that can track a hyperglide vehicle traveling at Mach 8.
Space Command (old NORAD) is going to be very disappointed to hear this. All that fake data they have on space junk and the ISS that are cruising at Mach 17.
Photons los!