The world's first laser weapon — one that can "kill" threatening, airborne drones — is ready for action, according to news sources.
The laser, known as the Laser Weapons System (LaWS), may seem as though it were pulled straight from a James Bond movie, but it's entirely functional and can shoot with stunning accuracy, the U.S. Navy told CNN. The LaWS is currently deployed aboard the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport ship, in the Persian Gulf.
"Operationally, it works just like a laser pointer," Lt. Cale Hughes, a LaWS officer, told CNN. "There's a chamber inside with special materials that release photons." [7 Technologies That Transformed Warfare]
The LaWS laser beam is completely silent and invisible. It's also fast: The laser travels at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second, or about 300,000 kilometers per second), meaning it's about 50,000 times the speed of an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile, such as the one North Korea is testing, the Navy told CNN.
The $40 million system requires a team of three to operate it and a small generator to power its electricity supply, according to the Navy.
However, each blast is relatively cheap. "It's about a dollar a shot," Hughes told CNN.
This is a really huge niche these guys have carved out.
