Lockheed Martin’s Laser Weapon Destroyed A Truck From A Mile Away Within Seconds
” Lockheed Martin announced on Thursday that a prototype for a new laser weapon system had successfully destroyed the engine of a small truck “in a matter of seconds from more than a mile away.”
The defense and aeronautics giant named the 30-kilowatt fiber laser weapon system ATHENA, an acronym for Advanced Test High Energy Asset.
The field test demonstrated the laser’s military effectiveness against enemy ground vehicles, Lockheed stated, and demonstrated its “rapidly evolving precision capability” envisioned to “protect military forces and critical infrastructure.” “
While we remain ambivalent in the debate over the necessity of spending billions in the development of these space age weapons , we recognize the fact that even if the US does not create these futuristic weapons China will .
However , we must fault Lockheed Martin for their marketing strategy .
It hardly seems wise to advocate the multi-billion dollar ATHENA as a weapon to destroy trucks “from a mile away in seconds” when a single round from a Barrett M107 can accomplish the same result for a couple bucks .
While it is possible that the R&D costs can eventually be recouped and that the ATHENA system can become a cost-effective means of destroying missiles , jets and other large and expensive war machines , we find the emphasis placed on the destruction of regular trucks found throughout the articles currently proliferating on the web to be highly insulting to our intelligence .
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