The U.S. Navy has unveiled its new Laser Weapon System (LaWS), laser guns that the Navy's top officers believe hold the future to dominance of the world's waterways and at a minuscule cost, Wired reports:
In tests aboard the destroyer USS Dewey last summer off the California coast, the Laser Weapon System successfully shot down surveillance drones and fast boats in its first round of sea trials aboard a surface combatant, according to Rear Adm. Thomas Eccles, one of the Navy’s top engineers.
"This system," Greenert told the naval community at the Sea Air Space conference, showing the above video to a hushed crowd, "it works."
The tubular Laser Weapon System (LaWS) is a solid-state laser that’s been in development for six years, at a cost of $40 million.
