US Air Force invents ‘bomb laser’ that can detonate explosives and landmines from 1,000 feet away
THE US Air Force is developing a laser weapon that can detonate explosives from 1,000 feet (300 metres) away.
The device is loaded onto ground vehicles and can safely clear unexploded landmines, bombs and artillery shells dropped by enemy troops.
Dubbed the Recovery of Airbase Denied by Ordnance (RADBO) system, the tool is being put together with the help of US military contractor Parsons.
The Air Force awarded Parsons a $40million (£30million) contract for the development and delivery of the lasers last week, C4ISRNET reports.
“The idea behind the RADBO is to allow airmen to clear threats from current or future airfields,” the site says.
“This is hardly the laser warfare capability sought by Pentagon planners for decades, but still a potentially important step.”
Signed September 23, the deal involves the procurement of 13 RADBO vehicles, as well as three spares.
The system includes a mine-proof Cougar MRAT ground vehicle with one of Parsons’ three-kilowatt ZEUS laser weapons strapped to the top.
That laser can fire “more than 300 meters away from the vehicle” according to Parsons.
It is powerful enough to detonate cluster bombs, land mines, general purposed bombs and thick-cased artillery rounds, Parsons says.
In addition to the ZEUS laser, a specialised arm on the MRAT will move debris and other objects out of the way.
The primary purpose is to safely clear explosives dropped by enemy combatants on US airfields around the world.
According to C4ISRNET, the Air Force contract involves the delivery of RADBO systems by 2023.
It’s not clear if they’ll go into the field that year or will require further testing ahead of deployment.
The British, Chinese and US militaries have invested big bucks in laser weapon technology over the past decade.
One device shown in footage captured by the Royal Navy can annihilate missile threats, drone attacks and artillery fire.
The Dragonfire laser is designed to protect troops on land and ships at sea when under bombardment from enemy forces.
A similar weapon that can be strapped to heavily-armoured vehicles will reportedly be deployed by the US military by 2022.
Terrifying space weapons of the future
Here are three of the scariest...
Rods from God
- A strange but utterly terrifying weapon has been dubbed “rods from the God” and is based on the concept of creating man-made meteorites that can be guided towards the enemy.
- Instead of using rocks rods the size of telephone poles are deployed.
- These would be made out of tungsten — a rare metal that can stand the intense heat generated by entering Earth’s atmosphere.
- One satellite fires the rods towards the Earth’s atmosphere while the other steers them to a target on the ground.
- Reaching speeds of 7000mph they hit the ground with the force of a small nuclear weapon — but crucially creating no radiation fall out.
- As bizarre as it sounds, a US Congressional report recently revealed the military has been pushing ahead with the kinetic space weapons.
Molten metal cannons
- This intriguing idea is being developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
- It is called the Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition or MAHEM.
- This game changing rail-gun can fire a jet of molten metal, hurled through space at several hundred miles per second by the most powerful electromagnets ever built.
- The molten metal can then morph into an aerodynamic slug during flight and pierce through another spacecraft or satellite and a munition explodes inside.
Space force ships
- Already the United States is powering head with its spacecraft, although China is busy developing one of their own.
- The top secret American XS-1 under development by DARPA.
- It can travel ten times the speed of sound and launch missiles.
- Meanwhile an unmanned craft is currently being developed in the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre in Mianyang, Sichuan province, which is also known as Base 29.
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In other news, the US Air Force recently unveiled a flying car that will shuttle troops across war zones.
the US recently tested an intercontinental ballistic missile amid rising tensions with China and Russia.
And, Virgin Galactic has unveiled plans for a new super-jet that could whisk passengers from London to New York in 90 minutes.
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