鈥淲E鈥橰E doing our part to make gunpowder a 20th-century technology.鈥� So says Dan Wildt of Northrop Grumman, whose battlefield laser weapon passed another milestone last week.
In tests, it fired a 105-kilowatt beam 鈥� enough to destroy rockets, mortars and artillery shells 鈥� at a stationary target for 5 minutes. Unlike weapons such as Boeing鈥檚 huge Airborne Laser, which burns chemical fuel, the solid-state laser consists of semiconductors that emit light when a voltage is applied. This makes them much smaller, allowing them to fit on the back of a 鈥渞uggedised鈥� truck. They can also run on electricity from a diesel generator.
The laser weapon will ultimately pinpoint, track and destroy a rocket up to a couple of kilometres away, claims Northrop Grumman.
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