HOW LASERS ARE RESHAPING MODERN WARFARE
Whether it’s navy ships or armoured vehicles, militaries all around the globe are taking lasers from the pages of fiction and turning them into the weapons of today
WORDS MARK SMITH
DID YOU KNOW? High-energy laser systems have a heating effect, so can take several seconds to work
A laser weapon on the USS Dewey
Did you know?
Some lasers are so bright they can be seen up to 0.6 miles away
The USS Ponce is equipped with laser weapon systems
From James Bond to Star Wars, lasers have always been some of the coolest bits of technology found in the most fantastical stories. Whether it was the Death Star pulverising Alderaan or Goldfinger trying to get Sean Connery to talk, they’ve always seemed like a science fiction device found purely in the imagination of writers, directors and special-effects gurus. But lasers are a real-world technology that’s already used widely in electronics and things like hair removal and cataract operations. The time is fast approaching, too, where they’ll be used on the battlefield just as much as bombs, missiles and bullets.