Laser weapons have been in the human imagination ever since science fiction films made them iconic. But what once was a creative idea could become a reality within the next decade.
According to Mary J. Miller, deputy assistant secretary for Army Research and Technology, the efficacy of laser weapons is now being tested for potential integration into the modern military arsenal by 2023.
"The Army's S&T effort is committed to pursuing high-energy lasers,” said Miller. ”Lasers have been promised for a long time, but they've never held up and delivered what was asked for, so the operators are rightfully skeptical. That's why the Army is taking lasers out into operational environments and testing them.”
Thanks to coiled optical fibers, which amplify the power emitted by electrical inputs, developers have bypassed the need for massive amounts of energy solely to power an effective burst. In fact, the energy cost is so low that it could potentially save a lot of money in the military's budget.
“An inexpensive missile is $100,000 and that's one shot,” says David DeYoung, Boeing's director of directed-energy systems. “To shoot a laser-weapon system once is less than $10.”
Though there are still plenty of hurdles to overcome before handheld laser guns begin testing, many specialists in the defense and security communities are beginning to take laser weapon technology seriously.
“After a nearly half-century quest, the US military today is on the cusp of finally fielding operationally relevant directed-energy weapons,” wrote Paul Scharre, an advanced-technology specialist at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for a New American Security.
You may have seen the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) currently being tested by the U.S. Navy. The Army is also testing Boeing’s HEL MD system, also known as the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator. Both systems were able to effectively disable military-grade drones with the LaWS being able to disable a small boat.
Seeing as real-life blasters may be only a few years away, let's just hope our military men and women have better aim than your average storm trooper.
See video demonstrations of each weapon in the videos below: