WAR MACHINE
US Navy’s new £100m laser canons can fry boats, drones and incoming missiles
The cost of the lasers runs into hundreds of millions of dollars, but energy weapons are 'the future' according to one naval expert
THE US Navy has bought two incredible laser cannons that are capable of blasting drones out of the sky.
These so-called "high-energy lasers" use huge amounts of power to destroy their targets, and will soon be loaded on to operational warships.
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The lasers were built by Lockheed Martin, and can be used to strike boats and small drones.
But by boosting the power from 150 kilowatts per shot to 300 kilowatts, it's possible to destroy incoming missiles – before they hit their targets.
The pair of cannons cost the US Navy $150million, but that's a small fee for the added security the mega-lasers will bring.
One laser will remain on land, and will be used for military testing purposes.
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The second laser cannon, however, will be loaded onto an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer ship as soon as 2020, according to .
Unfortunately, the cost of the US Navy contract with Lockheed Martin could spiral to nearly a billion dollars.
A statement from the US Department of Defense reads: "Lockheed Martin Aculight Corp. will develop, manufacture, and deliver two test units in fiscal 2020.
"This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $942,818,114."
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It's the USA's latest bid to modernise its military defences to keep pace with China.
Speaking in 2016, then Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran said: "Low-cost directed energy weapons have to be part of our future.
"If we have to continue to rely on projectiles, we will run out of the ability to defend ourselves."
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