Immediately after the invention of the laser, there was a huge amount of excitement about, oh, look at all the things we’ll try to do with this, and then it sort of occurred to people that they didn’t have many applications. This was sort of a great invention without a purpose.
Military Find a Purpose for the Laser – Directed Energy Weapons
The military eventually found a purpose. By 1962, the Department of Defense began weaponizing lasers as part of an arsenal that would come to be known as directed energy weapons, like the electric discharge laser tested by the Army in 1983, the active denial system declassified in 2001, and Zeus, an anti-land mine laser deployed to Afghanistan in 2003. The military values the idea of directed energy weapons for a lot of different reasons.
Why Directed Energy Weapons Are Valuable
One is that directed energy weapons can be extremely accurate. They also potentially give you ways of being able to attack your enemy from a great safe distance without having to, say, put any of your own troops at risk. Silent, fast as the speed of light, and deadly accurate.
Army is Ready to Test the THEL – Ractical High Energy Laser
The perfect weapon system, but could it be built? The Army‘s White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the year 2000. After years of development, the Army is preparing to test a revolutionary weapon, the tactical high energy laser, also known as THEL. The THEL has undergone firing tests to measure its range and accuracy, but his will be the first attempt ever to shoot a live rocket out of the sky. The Pentagon wants this weapon deployed by 2015. This is a critical test to determine if they’re on track to meet that goal.
The first of its kind, it has the power to shoot down most anything that flies, from cruise missiles to unmanned aerial vehicles, even planes. It has a range of approximately six miles. But could it work in an actual field test? June 6, 2000, White Sands Missile Range.
The U.S. Army is carrying out a crucial test of a new laser weapon. It’s the first trial to shoot down a live rocket in its 15-year development process. A signal is given, and in this actual footage of the test, the Katyusha rocket is launched.
Radar locks onto it, the laser takes aim, fires, and in a flash, history is made.
