Lasers aren’t just for Star Wars anymore. The U.S. Navy will send out its first laser weapon this week aboard the U.S.S Ponce. Running simply on electricity, the laser will be able to fire at an estimated $1 per shot, as opposed to the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes to shoot just one missile. The laser will run as long as electricity is available and has the capabilities to shoot enemy planes and missiles. The roughly 30 million dollar weapon will be used somewhere in the Middle East as reported by naval officials.
Enemy missiles, planes, etc. will most likely have no way of dodging around pin point accurate laser technology moving, of course, at the speed of light. The prototype is state of the art and the first of it’s kind. Though, researchers have found some notable flaws.
For example, a misfire could be catastrophic. These weapons certainly have the potential to hit noncombatant aircraft or satellites. Another problem is that the laser is virtually useless in any uncertain weather conditions, meaning fog or rain. Still, these laser weapons have seemed to work successfully in all test situations.
“The solid-state laser is a big step forward to revolutionizing modern warfare with directed energy, just as gunpowder did in the era of knives and swords,” said Peter Morrison, the program officer of ONR’s Laser Maturation program. “The future is here.”