US Navy wants rechargeable magazines for lasers to shoot enemy drones
The US Navy plans to use compact lasers to shoot down cheap exploding drones.
Rechargeable magazines enable laser weapons to fire more shots before needing to cool.
Recent attacks on ships in the Red Sea made the U.S. Navy realise that launching a $2 million missile on a $2000 drone was a bad trade.
It is financially draining, and the warships carry a limited number of missiles.
Laser weapons avoid these problems; as long as there is enough electricity, they can continuously fire.
Laser weapons are cheaper than missile launchers or air defence cannons that cost as low as a dollar per shot or less.
Lasers have their drawbacks, too- the need for vast amounts of electricity and bulky cooling systems as they generate a lot of heat.
Hence, the US Navy would create lasers that use the equivalent of a magazine for rifles.
Rather than containing bullets, it would contain a limited amount of battery power.
When the laser drains one magazine, swap it out for a fresh one while the depleted magazines recharge.
The Navy is aiming for a magazine that can power a small weapon of 20 kilowatts and operate on a 1-micron wavelength.
That’s not a very powerful system compared to current lasers that range from 300-kW devices to 50-kW weapons.
However, it would be perfect for the real prize that the Navy seeks: a laser weapon to disable small drones.