In tests off the California coast, a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] prototype laser system successfully disabled two boats at a range of approximately 1.6 kilometers (approximately 1 mile). These were the first tests of the Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system against maritime targets.
Lockheed Martin is developing the transportable, ground-based ADAM laser system to demonstrate a practical, affordable defense against short-range threats, including Qassam-like rockets, unmanned aerial systems and small boats.
In less than 30 seconds, the ground-based system’s high-energy laser burned through multiple compartments of the rubber hull of the military-grade small boats operating in the ocean. Lockheed Martin previously demonstrated the system’s capabilities in countering representative airborne targets in flight, including small-caliber rocket targets and an unmanned aerial system target. The system can precisely track moving targets at a range of more than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), and its 10-kilowatt fiber laser can engage targets up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away.
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1 comment:
Seems to me a machine gun would do the same job considerably faster and possibly cheaper.
30 seconds to burn through the rubber hull? A .50-caliber round would take a fraction of a second.
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