What is lethal, silent, invisible, moves at 186,000 miles per second, and costs about $1 per shot? The LaWS, or Laser Weapons System. The world’s first active laser weapon.

It is more precise than a bullet,” Wells told CNN. “It’s not a niche weapon system like some other weapons that we have throughout the military where it’s only good against air contacts, or it’s only good against surface targets, or it’s only good against, you know, ground-based targets — in this case this is a very versatile weapon, it can be used against a variety of targets.”

LaWS begins with an advantage no other weapon ever invented comes even close to matching. It moves, by definition, at the speed of light. For comparison, that is 50,000 times the speed of an incoming ICBM.

“It is throwing massive amounts of photons at an incoming object,” said Lt. Cale Hughes, laser weapons system officer. “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.” – CNN

 

Featured image U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Peter D. Lawlor

This article is courtesy of Fighter Sweep.