Weapon of the Near Future?

Are laser weapons ready for duty?

By Jonathan Skillings
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

The next generation of weapons in the U.S. arsenal could be straight out of science fiction: laser beams and heat rays. And they could be ready for action before you know it.

By the end of this year, the Air Force plans to conduct a first, fully loaded test flight of its Airborne Laser, a jumbo jet packed with gear designed to shoot down enemy missiles half a world away, at the speed of light. The ABL also packs a megawatt-class punch–it’s not exactly your garden-variety laser pointer.

For ground troops and embassy guards, meanwhile, a Humvee-mountable device with the nondescript name of Active Denial System is being put through its paces. The ADS would provide a nonlethal form of crowd control, using millimeter waves (a cousin of microwaves) to cause an intense–but noninjurious–burning sensation meant to encourage people to flee.

That’s the plan for these ambitious directed-energy weapons, but for the moment they’re still largely R&D works in progress.

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