Watch the US Navy’s laser weapon in action (VIDEO)

The LaWS, an acronym for Laser Weapons System, has been deployed on board the USS Ponce amphibious transport ship, ready to be fired at targets, according to CNN. The device is the world’s first active laser weapon.

“It is more precise than a bullet,” Navy Capt. Christopher Wells told CNN. “It’s not a niche weapon system like some other weapons that we have throughout the military where it’s only good against air contacts, or it’s only good against surface targets, or it’s only good against, you know, ground-based targets — in this case this is a very versatile weapon, it can be used against a variety of targets.”

LaWS begins with an advantage no other weapon ever invented comes even close to matching. It moves, by definition, at the speed of light. For comparison, that is 50,000 times the speed of an incoming ICBM.

“It is throwing massive amounts of photons at an incoming object,” said Lt. Cale Hughes, laser weapons system officer. “We don’t worry about wind, we don’t worry about range, we don’t worry about anything else. We’re able to engage the targets at the speed of light.”

For the test, the USS Ponce crew launched the target — a drone aircraft, a weapon in increasing use by Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and other adversaries.

[ CNN ]

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