U.S. Developing 100-Kilowatt Laser for Strike Fighters

redwolfoz writes "New Scientist reports that American defence contractors, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, are developing a 100-kilowatt infrared laser weapon for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter that may be powerful enough to blind people on the ground, even if they are relatively far from the target."

Comments

Potentially very scary

[ocbwilg]

Think about it. It's infra-red, so you can't see it. You could potentially filter the harmful rays IF you knew the wavelength of the laser AND you knew it was being used, though that's not likely to happen. So basically you could be Joe Afghan tending to his goats and minding your own business, when suddenly a truck 2 or 3 kilometers away explodes and takes your vision with it. No warning, no defense, just blindness.

Think about the potential for abuse if it falls into the wrong hands. Wanna bring down a couple jetliners, but don't have 19 hijackers to spare? That's easy! Just point one of these lasers at the wings of passing planes and watch the fuel tanks explode. Since the beam is invisible, nobody would know what hit them or be able to tell where the attack came from. You could probably drop 3 or 4 planes before you'd have to move on to another location.

Worse than land mines!

[RobinH]

While the rest of the civilized world is trying to ban land mines because of their devastating effects on civilian populations that lasts decades after the intended conflict, the U.S. is busy designing a weapon that has the (un?)intended effect of permanently blinding people. Great.

Given a choice, I'd rather lose a leg than go blind, wouldn't you?

I do realize that weapons that injure are far more effective against an enemy that cares for its wounded. However, there's a difference between a bullet wound, which can heal, and being blinded for life!

On top of this, the U.S. has a reputation for hitting civilians and friendly troops recently. Is this really going to be an effective weapon for U.S. troops to have on the battlefield? I hope we're also trying to perfect occular implants at the same time.