The development of the green laser pointer weapon in 2017 changed people’s views. This year, the U.S. military not only released test images of laser weapons shooting down high-altitude drones, but also announced that it is possible to implement laser weapons on fighter aircraft by 2021. In addition, other countries are scrambling to develop laser weapons.
A video released by Lockheed Martin of the United States in September this year testing a laser weapon system shows that at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, five “exile” drones in flight suddenly caught fire at the same time and then disintegrated in the air. The laser beam is invisible and does not emit any sound.
The test used the “Athena” laser weapon system. In a test in 2015, the laser system penetrated the hood of a pickup 1.6 km away, melting the engine and transmission system inside.
Chief Technology Officer Okie Jackson introduced that a static pickup was used as a target in the 2015 test, and this time the drone that was shot down was flying at high altitude, proving that the “Athena” green laser pointers weapon system was used as a lethal weapon Effectiveness. In addition to the United States’ technological breakthroughs in laser weapons, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Japan also increased their research and development efforts on laser weapons.