Slashdot Mirror
New Laser Makes Pirates Wish They Wore Eye-Patches
vieux schnock writes "The New Scientist has an article about a new laser developed by a company in Farnborough, UK, that aims to deter modern high-seas pirates. Devised as a 'warning shot' to 'distract suspected pirates rather than harm them,' the meter-wide beam can scan the pirates' 6-metre skiffs and make it difficult for them to aim their AK-47 or rocket-propelled grenades at the ship."
Don't worry, the article is aimed at non-sociopaths, not you.
Arming the ships is inherently a bad idea. The main reason why these hijackings haven't turned deadly is that neither side really wants to start killing people. I realize that there's a large number of rather stubborn people that think that arming everybody is the solution, but it's not.
You cite these facts, but it's pretty clear that you've got no clue what's going on beyond what some NRA lacky told you about it. The reality tends to be that without a lot of training the weapons end up causing far more trouble than they're worth. Even with training it's common for soldiers to intentionally miss the people they're supposed to be killing during their early engagements.