The Chinese presented a laser gun with a range of almost a kilometer
Scientists from the Siansky Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have announced a new development - the laser gun ZKZM-500. The laser beam generated by a gun is very difficult to notice from the outside, because these are not the “blasters” colored rays that are not shown in science fiction. Nevertheless, in many cases, a laser rifle is much more effective than cinema types of weapons, from which, as a rule, they get at the enemy only in exceptional cases.
According to the developers, although the weapon belongs to the non-lethal class, the beam energy is enough to cause instantaneous charring of the skin and tissues. Only ten years ago, such a rifle was only the property of Hollywood studios, and now it is a very real weapon. The engineers who designed the shotgun say that the beam will hit a person through the clothes without any problems. Moreover, if the fabric, from which the clothes are sewn, is easily ignited, then the person in these clothes can turn into a living torch.
The gun is designed in such a way that it can be used on foot, attached to a car or aircraft. The weight of the gun is 3 kg, the AK-47 Kalashnikov automatic rifle weighs about the same. Now the Chinese are deciding on the start of mass production of laser weapons and providing it with anti-terrorism teams and special police units.
In case of hostage taking by terrorists, such paramilitary units will be able to temporarily disable criminals and remove hostages.
Of course, weapons of this kind can also be used during military operations. You don’t have to shoot at people - you can aim a laser rifle at the fuel storage and ignite it. It is worth remembering that the rifle is silent, the sound of the shot will not be, so that the enemy may not understand what happened. Everything will be like an accidental accident. And of course, it will not be possible to track the direction from which the shot was fired.
Rifle charges will be more than enough. Its battery (normal rechargeable Li-ion) is enough for 1000 shots, 2 seconds each. The range is 800 m. The prototype of the rifle was built on the basis of the ZKZM laser, previously developed by the University of Sian. Developers are now looking for a partner who has a license to manufacture weapons. The cost of one rifle is about $ 15,000.
The production of weapons of this type will be supervised to ensure that neither the prototypes nor the blueprints fall into the hands of potential terrorists or other criminals. As far as one can understand, China does not plan to transfer technology to third parties, for example, to the military of other countries.
The gun really exists and works - technical documentation with basic information was published on one of the government sites. These are only the main characteristics, without a detailed indication of the principles of operation of the rifle and its individual elements. In addition to the rifle, other types of laser weapons, including a laser machine gun, are being actively developed. Its range is small - about half a kilometer, but the machine gun can shower the enemy with a hail of laser beams. The battery also lasts a few hundred shots.
Laser weapons began to develop only a few years ago. One of the first was the US military, who created a laser gun, which in the end was not very successful. The power of the laser was not even enough to get through the clothes, so the victims of such a gun could, according to eyewitnesses, only nudists. But they are rarely found on the battlefields, so they didn’t introduce a cannon. After that, the United States developed laser guns for ships and aircraft. They were used, in particular, to destroy enemy missiles.
The Chinese were most serious about laser weapons. In 2015, Chinese authorities allocated about 2 billion yen (approximately $ 111 million) for the development of weapons of this type. And already after this became known, other countries began to develop laser weapons.
In China, as far as can be judged, stationary laser weapons have become the norm. In particular, the US military, which in recent years operated in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, complain of some kind of laser equipment at Chinese bases. Because of these installations, two US military pilots received eye damage.
The miniaturization of laser technology has become possible due to the significant progress of science and technology over the past few years. Approximately the same in terms of importance and speed of progress, we see miniaturization in computer technology. It can probably be said that the military is entering a new stage of evolution.