New Laser Weapon Test Successful

A two-mirror relay system that could one day be used to destroy ground targets and airborne missiles with a high-intensity laser has been tested by the US Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, US.The tests carried were out in recent weeks at Kirtland Air force base, New Mexico, by Boeing and the US air force. They involved firing a laser with an output power of just under 1 kilowatt at the relay system from a distance of about 3 kilometres. The laser was then successfully redirected to a target a further 3 km from the relay. The mirror relay consists of two 75-centimetre-wide mirrors positioned close to one another and suspended 30 metres above the ground by a crane. The long-term goal is to develop a high-altitude mirror system that could redirect powerful laser beams at targets beyond the direct line-of-sight of the laser's source. An air force fact sheet says such a relay could provide "a worldwide speed-of-light capability to the war fighter."