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Laser gun: US Navy unveils new weapon with video showing speedboat explosion | Laser gun: US Navy unveils new weapon with video showing speedboat explosion |
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The US Navy has announced that a new laser weapon it tested earlier this year was a success, and has released footage of the machine in action. | The US Navy has announced that a new laser weapon it tested earlier this year was a success, and has released footage of the machine in action. |
A video of the laser weapon system (Laws), released by the Office of Naval Research, shows the laser being deployed aboard USS Ponce in September in the Persian Gulf. | |
It shows the weapon being used against two test targets, including a speedboat which bursts into flames. Other targets were located at sea and in the air, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones. | |
Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research, said in a statement on Wednesday that the “powerful” laws will “play a vital role in the future of naval combat operations”, the Daily Caller reported. | Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research, said in a statement on Wednesday that the “powerful” laws will “play a vital role in the future of naval combat operations”, the Daily Caller reported. |
The prototype weapon in the video cost $40 million to produce, dealt with a “tough” pace, adverse weather conditions including a sandstorm, and destroyed targets” with “near-instantaneous lethality.” | |
Officials claim the weapon is capable of destroying its targets with pin-point accuracy. | |
The laser, which was installed on the USS Ponce over the summer, has been in development for years, according to Navy officials. | |
Klunder acknowledged that it took a while to get the rules of engagement needed to use the gun approved in the Pentagon. But now, the captain of the USS Ponce could use it against a real threat if required, he said. | |
Klunder did not give details on the range of Laws but did say that humans were not a target of the weapon, under stipulations of the Geneva Convention. | |
The weapon, which utilizes a solid state infrared beam of energy to cripple or destroy targets, was tested over the past few months. | |
According to the Office of Naval Research, the system performed flawlessly. | |
Operated using a video game controller, the system hit targets mounted aboard small boats speeding towards the ship. In a separate test, the laser targeted and shot a drone out of the sky. | |
The Navy say that laser weapons are a pivotal tool for defending its fleets in the future from small boat, missile, and drones attacks and hope to deploy combat-ready laser prototypes by the early 2020s. |