Yesterday, the U.S. Navy unveiled a prototype of its Laser Weapons System (LaWS), which will be installed ton the USS Ponce and sent to the Middle East in 2014. It marks the first time that a laser weapon will be used in active service.
Navy researchers told reporters that the laser gun, or a 'directed energy pulse weapon' as the military call it, destroyed its targets 100 percent of the time in testing. 'It operates much like a blowtorch... with an unlimited magazine,' a Navy official told Fox News. The solid-state laser prototype doesn't use up expensive ammunition so is cheap to operate. 'Its weapon round costs about $1 to shoot,' said Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, a Navy researcher.
