Boat Reduced to Debris by Deadly Laser Weapon - Caught on Camera - Published 3 days ago

Back in September of 2022, Lockheed Martin unveiled its 300-kW-class electric laser that can be used for tactical purposes. Delivered to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSDR&E), this is the most powerful laser that Lockheed Martin has made.

This 300 kW-class laser is ready to be used in U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) demonstration programs, such as the Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) laser weapon system used by the U.S. Army.

As part of the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI), the OUSDR&E chose Lockheed Martin in 2019 to take their spectral beam combined high energy laser design to the 300 kW-class level.

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“Lockheed Martin increased the power and efficiency and reduced the weight and volume of continuous-wave high energy lasers, which reduces the risk for future fielding efforts of high power laser weapon systems,” said Rick Cordaro, vice president of Lockheed Martin Advanced Product Solutions.

The HELSI laser will support Army IFPC-HEL demonstrations at some point in 2022.

This HELSI milestone shows that Lockheed Martin is committed to security in the 21st century, they say, by making new technologies that improve speed, agility, and mission solutions to ensure that the U.S. and its allies are always ready.

Lockheed Martin's 300 kW-class high-energy laser was designed and built with the help of its Washington State and New York teams. The team has been studying, making, developing, and using electromagnetic radiation to make 21st-century security solutions for 40 years.

What is a laser weapon?
Practical laser beams for the defense often fall into one of two categories: spectrum beams, a mixture of fiber lasers similar to what one may see in fiber communications, or distributed gain, a series of slabs through which energy is projected serially—initially created for industrial cutting and welding, fiber lasers.

These are the two main distinctions, though there are many alternative ways to categorize the components.

The more general category, "directed energy," which can include lasers, is "high-energy weaponry." It may also refer to electromagnetic weaponry, which some people refer to as RF and microwave sources employed as weapons.

These are effective when used non-lethally against individuals.

Read more @ https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/how-high-powered-lasers-work