To defend against military lasers, Adsys Controls of Irvine, California, has created Helios, which can be carried on drones. To do much damage, an offensive laser needs to remain focused on its target for several seconds. Helios stops a laser from doing this by disrupting the systems controlling the beam – the Achilles’ heel for all such weapons.
“Beam control is a critical function of high-energy lasers,” says Adsys CEO Brian Goldberg.
He will not say exactly how the interference is done, but it may involve fooling the control system into thinking it is hitting its target despite the laser actually pointing a few metres to the side. A direct hit would have produced a big burst of reflected light, so a pulse sent back by an anti-laser laser could make it look like the original laser was on target.
But Helios could be susceptible to the same trick, says Roland Smith, a plasma physicist at Imperial College London. “If it puts out enough power to disrupt targeting, that makes it visible and a target itself,” he says. “If the laser weapon knows it is being jammed, it could engage the jammer.”
Image: Erik Simonsen/Getty
Source: New Scientist