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Laser beam weapon unveiled

Posted at 11:01 AM on July 19, 2010 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Tech, War

The big air show opened in Farnborough, UK today. Unlike the one that opens at Oshkosh next week, this one is all about selling the latest commercial jet, or the latest weapons system.

A video released today is bound to strike some terror into the hearts of, well, just about anyone.

It's a laser weapon:

The Star Wars-like weapon was made by Raytheon.

At face value, such a weapon would appear to have little use in either of the two most recent wars fought by the U.S.

Comments (7)

"At face value, such a weapon would appear to have little use in either of the two most recent wars fought by the U.S."

Such a shame. I guess our fearless leaders will have to get creative and come up with a new war to justify the expense.

Posted by David | July 19, 2010 11:30 AM

Then again, maybe there could be uses with a bit more development...

Posted by Don | July 19, 2010 12:54 PM

I think it has HUGE benefits for our current conflicts. Mortar and rocket attacks do happen in both theaters.

"Raytheon said the solid state fibre laser produces a 50 kilowatt beam and can be used against UAV, mortar, rockets and small surface ships."

Posted by Bud | July 19, 2010 3:31 PM

I think that CAPITALIZING a word makes it more true.

Posted by garbarharyarb | August 22, 2010 9:10 PM

While this is a good start on this technology, destroying a fragile, slow-moving drone is a long way from targeting an incoming missile or artillery shell.

Posted by James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | August 23, 2010 12:35 PM

Which army paints its missile carbon black? What a failure.

Posted by puttputt | August 23, 2010 4:31 PM

An aircraft with a reflective surface would probably defeat this technology ;-)

Posted by somoroto | July 29, 2011 7:19 PM