A BRIEF TIMELINE OF MILITARY LASER HISTORY

1972: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE DRAGON’S JAW

During the Vietnam War, the US spent years trying to destroy the ‘Dragon’s Jaw’ bridge, expending hundreds of tons of bombs and losing 11 jets to anti-aircraft fire. Finally, in May 1972, 14 US Air Force F-4Cs put the bridge out of action with Paveway bombs, which homed in on laser energy that another aircraft pointed at the bridge.

1991: OPERATION DESERT STORM

The US used its next-gen Paveway III laser-guided bombs to attack the Iraqi military from low level and hit a target within three metres of the laser-aiming point. The F-117A stealth fighter destroyed targets in Baghdad with Paveways, while F-15E, F-111, and A-6 bombers smashed airfields, bunkers, tanks, and other Iraqi targets.

2014: THE FIRST LASER WEAPON GOES TO SEA

Lasers only ‘painted’ targets for bombs from miles away until the Pentagon fitted the USS

Ponce with the AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (LaWS). In low-power mode, the 30 kW weapon disrupted a target’s optical sensors. At high power, it destroyed sensors, sliced fins off drones, and detonated a drone’s explosive payload.