Boeing Laser "Breakthrough" Produces First Solid-State 25kW Beam, Scalable Up To 100 kW in Next Several Years

It's like lasing a stick of dynamite.

Or probably not. I have no idea. They say it can blow shit up good, though.

Boeing has just tested its new thin-disk laser, the most powerful solid-state laser ever made. It fires at over 25 kilowatts, with the scalability proven to go up to a 100 kilowatt laser in the coming years. A 100 kW laser would be the most powerful ever made, one that has a lot of challenges to overcome, including reducing the excess heat generated by such a powerful laser and maintaining the quality of the beam over distances. But even a 25 kW laser is extremely powerful. As the press release says, it "will damage, disable or destroy targets at the speed of light, with little to no collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in urban operations."

Nobody ever says this flat-out, but isn't the real value of such a weapon (at least as regards ground targets) its capability of conducting surgical assassination strikes?

Like (Scanners Head Explosion Content Warning)) this?

posted by Ace at 04:54 PM

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