This may very well be THE coolest thing in existence!
Forget about sharks with frickin’ lasers, how about an Apache Chopper with a frickin’ laser?
Way better for taking out the enemy, amirite?
Plus, you don’t have to feed them.
Or have to toss your enemies into the water.
In a joint experiment conducted by the Army, U.S. Special Operations Command, and defense contractor Raytheon, an Apache helicopter outfitted with a high-intensity directed energy laser successfully blasted an unmanned target out of the sky from 1.4 km (less than a mile) away, Raytheon announced on June 26.
The test, carried out at the White Sands Missile Range test ground in New Mexico, marks the first instance of a laser weapons system successfully eliminating a target from a rotary-wing aircraft “over a wide variety of flight regimes, altitudes, and airspeeds, proving the feasibility of laser attack from Apache.”
Seriously cool.
Watch:
Speaking at an industry conference then, SOCOM Rotary Wing program chief Col. John Vannoy characterized the directed energy weapons initiative as a relatively inexpensive alternative to guided missiles and other munitions, a program that fits with Air Force Special Operations Command’s plans to outfit an AC-130J Ghostrider with an integrated laser system.
“We’re not at the point where we’ve laid out a business case to advance it,” Col. Vannoy said of aircraft-integrated laser systems. “We really want to understand the environment on the wing, the beam quality we can get off the wing and the ability to beam steer and keep power on a target.”
Source: Task and Purpose
Ok, so it’s still in the investigative phase.
But they’ve tested it and are examining it more.
We’re getting there.
When up and running, America’s enemies need to look out! How will middle-East terror groups that still think that the 14th century is cutting-edge fashion keep up with that military advancement?
Imagine the precision that could be attained with a guided laser…
This could revolutionize warfare.
And it’s so unbelievably super-cool!
