A massive 30 kilowatt laser machine has been unveiled by India which is capable to locating a target by radar and then burning through it while travelling at the speed of light
A laser gun that can burn through drones several miles away while travelling at the speed of light has been made by India. Like a laser weapon you would expect to see in Star Wars, it was capable of locating and locking onto drones before destroying at a distance of 3.5 kilometres during a trial.
The huge 30 kilowatt laser machine, dubbed Sahastra Shakti, was unveiled last Sunday at the National Open Air Range in Kurnool city in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The laser initially detects its target via radar before burning through it at the speed of light, said Indian officials.
In the trial it was able to knock out seven swarm drones at the distance of 3.5 kilometres while it then also destroyed a fixed-wing drone even further away.
“[The laser] defeated a fixed-wing UAV and swarm drones successfully, causing structural damage and disabling the surveillance sensors,” said Samir Kamat, chairman of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, reported the Telegraph.
It comes as militaries around the world are developing laser technology for warfare. British troops have test-fired the UK’s first-ever laser gun attached to a fighting vehicle, aimed at smashing enemy drones out of the sky, it was revealed last December.
The high-energy weapon, fired by the British Army from an armoured vehicle, successfully destroyed flying drones. It works by directing an intense beam of infra-red light in the form of energy towards its target using advanced sensors and tracking systems which maintain lock-on and accuracy.
Unlike conventional munitions, laser weapons are virtually limitless in terms of ammunition supply, which means they could represent a cost-effective alternative.
The laser tested by the British Army was integrated onto a Wolfhound – a protected troop -carrying vehicle – where soldiers from 16 Royal Artillery tracked down hovering targets at Radnor Range in mid-Wales.
India has increased its military spending in the past few years at the same time with the country have had plenty of friction with both China and Pakistan. In February India proposed a £60 billion spending programme for the fiscal year, which was nearly a 1-% increase on the previous 12 month’s estimates.
The launch of laser weapons puts them on a similar level as the United States, Russia, China and Israel in terms of its development of this area of armoury. “This is just the beginning of the journey. We are working on a number of technologies that will give us Star Wars capability. What you saw today was one of the components of Star Wars technologies,” Mr Kamat reportedly said.
