US Army Testing Lightning Gun

By seamus -

The U.S. Army is working on experiments with a Lightning Gun. Specifically, a laser weapon that creates a charged plasma channel through the air, conducting electricity towards its targets - tanks, bombs, etc. This works because those targets are better conductors than the air or ground around them, and the electricity seeks the path of least resistance. In other words, that's exactly how freaking lightning works.


The nerd is strong in lead scientist George Fischer: "We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated (targets)". If I had a lightning gun in my backyard to play with as I see fit - oh, I'm sorry: I meant "experiment" - I'd zap shit all day too.

Here's how the tech works in more detail: an ultra-short pulse laser of modest energy keeps the beam focused by way of its own intensity. The laser's electromagnet harvests electrons from air molecules to create the charged plasma medium the electricity then follows. The laser itself puts out more energy than the power required by a city, however since the pulse itself lasts two trillionths of a second, it doesn't really require that much power to run. It still doesn't matter. This is one badass laser - it's like the Samuel L. Jackson of light amplification: it makes air his bitch and rips its electrons from under its legs to make bolts of lightning.

Snap, crackle and pop.
Of course, the Army argues that this charged plasma conduit can also be used to deliver microwaves to targets, as well as electricity. Microwave weapons already exist in the US arsenal, in the form of microwave pulse missiles that fry enemy bases and equipment. 

Still, the weapon is in a prototype/demonstration phase, which means it's just one of the plethora of technologies explored by US programs for future military deployment, and we won't get to see it in the hands of soldiers anytime soon. Which is a pity, because turning every soldier into a high-tech, mortal version of Thor is much more bad ass then Navy railguns.

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