Sea Glows Red as Navy Fires Laser Weapon in the Middle East
The Navy tested a high-energy laser weapon system Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen. Photos released by Naval Forces Central Command showed the sea glowing red as if it were filled with blood while the laser weapon…
The Navy tested a high-energy laser weapon system Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen.
Photos released by Naval Forces Central Command showed the sea glowing red as if it were filled with blood while the laser weapon took out a static surface training target.
The Navy had mounted the Solid-State Laser-Technology Maturation Laser Weapons System Demonstrator Mark 2 MOD 0 on the amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland for the demonstration.
The test wasn’t the Portland’s first. The ship used the LWSD in a May 2020 Pacific Ocean demonstration in which it disabled a drone.
Laser weapons once used to be the stuff of science fiction films and novels.
However, with rapid scientific progress in the last few decades, several countries — including Israel, Russia and China — have developed or are seeking to develop their own laser weapons to combat the threats of the 21st century.
The South China Morning Post reported in 2018 that China had developed a 15mm-caliber portable laser rifle with a range of half a mile, the ZKZM-500.
It said the laser assault rifle could produce an invisible beam that could penetrate windows and result in “instant carbonization” of the target’s skin and tissues.