The US military-industrial organization Raytheon, which develops and manufactures weapons, recently tested a new laser facility. Much more time is needed for full-blown tests, but this weapon has already shown itself well. It was able to independently detect and destroy the unmanned aerial vehicle.
The laser gun was installed on an Apache military helicopter. After that, the war machine rose into the air, constantly changing the altitude and speed of flight. However, even in such conditions, the laser setup was able to detect and destroy the target, being at a distance of 1.5 km from it.
Despite some success on the test before mass production is still very, very far. Laser weapons still have a lot of flaws. For example, energy consumption. To work effectively, the laser needs a lot of electricity. In addition, in conditions of dust or fog, the laser works much worse and during combat in such conditions it may be useless.
Military experts are confident that the laser potential of Raytheon is enormous. If we compare the current weaponry of Apache helicopters for comparison, then it is quite expensive, and its ammunition is limited, while the charges in the laser gun do not run out. In addition, a laser shot is silent, so it is difficult to predict it, which gives it many advantages in comparison with other types of weapons.
If a group of engineers who are working on a project succeeds in getting rid of the problem of increased energy consumption and in solving the difficulties of targeting in conditions of distorted visibility, then lasers have every chance to push out the usual combat cannons with which modern combat equipment is equipped. According to various forecasts of specialists in the military sphere, for 5-6 years the US military will be able to switch to the use of lasers.
