Star Wars-style laser technology to reach battlefield

[HT:BN]
Star Wars-style technology is about to take to the battlefield for the first time with the launch of a laser system to shoot down enemy missiles and mortars. The LADS system will utilise the phalanx system and literally shoot incoming missiles and mortars out of the sky using a laser beam.

In just 18 months the American defence firm Raytheon has turned a laser used in the car manufacturing industry into a weapon that can hit incoming rounds at the speed of light, melting the outer casing and detonating the explosive inside.

A laser has already been used in a test to destroy a 60mm mortar round and in September the company plans its first "shoot down" of a shell in flight in a test to be conducted with the US military. If successful it could be used on battlefields as early as next year.

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