The Most Powerful Laser Weapon in Development

Towards the end of 2021, the United States government awarded Boeing and General Atomics a joint contract to create a prototype for a weapon that could potentially revolutionize national defense.

In the last decade, the military tested several 30-kilowatt laser weapons, but this new enterprise sought to develop a laser device that was ten times as powerful.

It is expected that Boeing and General Atomics will soon demonstrate the concept of a 300-kilowatt-class solid-state Distributed Gain High Energy Laser Weapon System, just in time given the recent trials that China has carried out with hypersonic weapons…

[Polepubfa]

I really do like all the dark series videos but just some food for thought: the background music during the commentary is usually a bit too loud and is distracting from the commentary.

[meadball]

I'm wondering what the effective range would be in different conditions. It's not that lasers don't have a long range but environmental factors like weather, humidity or altitude do come into play when you're dealing with light.

[ponestrilla]

We need more Dark Tech. More videos on modern tech. Love this channel

[lyradiation]

ICBM missiles are all hypersonic, the difference since 2020 is that they've now got 'agile hypersonics', they can fire them like a cruise missile at extreme range (1000+km) and then either glide or power, changing direction as they fly 'nape of earth'. This would allow them to dodge fixed detection equipment and gain surprise, usually with only seconds worth of warning. The warning and defence will need to be distributed, most at sea or on high ground (to avoid nuclear torpedoes creating a tsunami effect).

[martinwinter]

The even more interesting will be the ultra-short pulse laser weapon US will test in august. Which is self-stabilizing and has many positive advantages compared to a constant beam.

[nathc]

I see your hypersonic speed and raise you the speed of light.

[elliotsaxon]

No doubt in my mind laser weapons are already in use

[TheWolfsnack]

The Westinghouse Phased Plasma Rifle in the 40 watt range can't be too far behind!

[IDK_Mr.M]

Remember the us military weapons are in production before it is even put into active duty. Before then its its not considered to the public as a weapon the military has. But if China or Russia tests a weapon even if it fails as a weapon in there military. The us military has had a working hypersonic weapon since the late 90's. It can regularly take around 20 years or more from first operational development weapon to it being listed as active duty. But it only takes one to change the way the world fights.

[keithallver]

Reagan's idea for the Strategic Defence Initiative was 30+ yr too early. But Star Wars tech is here now.

[sheilaolfieway]

If we're hearing about this now imagine what we really have the f-22 was produced long before it was made public.

[leonardmiyata]

Melting metal with a laser is not the real issue. High Speed photography has shown that when it hits the metal surface, it vaporizes the top most metal layer, creating an expanding ball of plasma, and causes a concussion effect, like setting off an explosive charge on the metal surface. As the plasma ball expands, it continues to absorb the laser energy, blocking the target from further damage until the plasma dissipates. Recommendation of the study that to maximize metal damage, the laser weapon should not be a continuous beam laser, but instead a pulse laser weapon, to permit the blocking plasma to dissipate between shots

Only weaker lasers are continuous beam, when they lack the energy to turn metal into plasma

[CharliMorganMusic]

I am looking forward to the day we have a fighter with an integrated laser.

[supersongi]

We need a gif of a cat dancing in the background when the song for the lasers comes up

[omarrp]

This may sound dumb, but I wonder how effective a reflective material on the outside would be to counter the laser.

[badgerwildgaming]

Lasers have almost zero falloff compared to ballistic weapons. This means far less training will be needed to use the weapon thus more troops will be able to use it.

[Donkeyearsa]

The problem with lasers is that dust and clouds can stop them in their tracks.

Missiles can also be given a mirror finish to decrease their effectiveness or even defeat them all together.

[garyspear]

Love all your videos keep us informed & up to date

[elijah_]

I really wish you brought up atmospheric scattering. Did they solve that issue?

[BigMacMick]

Are these available for home security?