01:27USA: Watch US navy LASER GUN hit speedboat with pinpoint accuracy
The US Navy released footage of their new laser weapon system (LaWS) being successfully tested aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf, Thursday.
Originally tested in September, the weapon fires on two test targets in the water, a floating stage and a speed boat, as well as a Scan Eagle-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Operators used computer controls to deploy the 30 kilowatt solid state infrared beam of energy, destroying all three targets.
The prototype weapon, which cost $40 million (€32.15 million) to create, can be used in a range of adverse weather conditions and has reported pin-point accuracy. The Office of Naval Research plan to develop a 100 to 150 kilowatt version of the weapon, which is expected to be tested in 2016 or 2017.
01:27The US Navy released footage of their new laser weapon system (LaWS) being successfully tested aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf, Thursday.
Originally tested in September, the weapon fires on two test targets in the water, a floating stage and a speed boat, as well as a Scan Eagle-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Operators used computer controls to deploy the 30 kilowatt solid state infrared beam of energy, destroying all three targets.
The prototype weapon, which cost $40 million (€32.15 million) to create, can be used in a range of adverse weather conditions and has reported pin-point accuracy. The Office of Naval Research plan to develop a 100 to 150 kilowatt version of the weapon, which is expected to be tested in 2016 or 2017.