UK military to build prototype 'laser weapon'
The UK Ministry of Defence has officially awarded a £30m contract to produce a prototype laser weapon.
The aim is to see whether "directed energy" technology could benefit the armed forces, and is to culminate in a demonstration of the system in 2019.
The contract was picked up by a consortium of European defence firms.
The prototype will be assessed on how it picks up and tracks targets at different distances and in varied weather conditions over land and water.
Peter Cooper, from the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DTSL), headquartered at Porton Down, said the project "draws on innovative research into high power lasers so as to understand the potential of the technology".
No comments:
Post a Comment