FUTURISTIC ‘LASER WEAPON’
Britain has awarded a 30-million-pound contract to produce a prototype laser weapon for its armed forces so that they could provide a more effective response to emerging threats, a media report said on Thursday. THE UK ministry of defence has officially awarded the contract to produce a prototype laser weapon, the BBC reported.
MOTIVE
THE aim is to see whether “directed energy” technology could benefit the armed forces, and is to culminate in a demonstration of the system in 2019.
THE weapon could “provide a more effective response to the emerging threats that could be faced by UK armed forces”.
DESTRUCTIVE POTENTIAL
THE prototype will be assessed on how it picks up and tracks targets at different distances and in varied weather conditions over land and water.
The demonstrator was not being developed to counter any specific threat, but to assess whether such weaponry could be delivered as a capability for the armed forces.
BUT in general, directed energy weapons could potentially be used to destroy drone aircraft, missiles, mortars, roadside bombs and a host of other threats.
The US military has been experimenting with high energy lasers for decades. But, until recently, technical hurdles had prevented them from being used on the frontline.
The truly ground-breaking projects like the Laser Directed Energy Weapon would keep this country ahead of the curve — HARRIET BALDWIN, Minister for defence procurement