Lockheed Martin's incredible new laser weapon technology

Lockheed Martin has completed the design, development and demonstration of a radical 60 kW laser weapon for the U.S. Army.
In testing earlier this month, the Lockheed Martin laser produced a single beam of 58 kW, representing a world record for a laser of this type.
Army bosses hope the radical weapon will give protection against threats such as swarms of drones or large numbers of rockets and mortars, and says It could one day be installed on military planes, helicopters and ships.
The Lockheed Martin laser system is now being shipped to the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command in Huntsville, Alabama for more testing.
'Delivery of this laser represents an important milestone along the path to fielding a practical laser weapon system,' said Paula Hartley of Lockheed Martin's Cyber, Ships & Advanced Technologies line of business.
'This milestone could not have been achieved without close partnership between the U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin; we are pleased to be able to deliver this system for their further integration and evaluation.'
Lockheed Martin's laser is a beam combined fiber laser, meaning it brings together individual lasers, generated through fiber optics, to generate a single, intense laser beam.
This allows for a scalable laser system that can be made more powerful by adding more fiber laser subunits.
The laser is based on a design developed under the Department of Defense's Robust Electric Laser Initiative Program, and further developed through investments by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army into a 60kW-class system.