The US developing powerful laser weapon to counter Chinese hypersonic missile: Report
New Delhi: The United States is planning to develop a powerful weapon capable of blasting missiles and drones, after China’s latest “nuclear-capable hypersonic missile” test, says a media report.
Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS (General Atomics Electromagnetics Systems) said that “The high power, compact laser weapon subsystem prototype that GA-EMS will deliver under this contract will produce a lethal output greater than anything fielded to date,”
According to the report, Last month, Boeing and GA-DMS were awarded a US Army contract to develop a 300kW-class solid-state “Distributed Gain High Energy Laser Weapon System. The delivery of the weapon will be a 300 kW-class distributed gain laser with an integrated Boeing beam director.
Technology represents a leap-ahead capability for air and missile defense that is necessary to support the Army`s modernization efforts and defeat next-generation threats in a multi-domain battlespace.
“The partnership combines both companies’ expertise in Directed Energy to deliver best-in-class, combat-ready protection for the warfighter with unmatched speed, performance, safety, and affordability, the statement added. This comes after media reports the last month stated that China carried out its first-ever hypersonic missile test which took US intelligence by surprise. Multiple reports stated that China carried out a test in the month of August.
Later this month, a new Pentagon report revealed that China is constructing the infrastructure necessary to support its nuclear expansion over the next decade.
(_Vinayak Barot)
