Shooting Down a Cruise Missile With a Laser Is Nothing Like in the Movies, Here's Proof

That’s right, those fancy ray guns we get to see in sci-fi movies and read about in sci-fi writings are quickly gaining traction, with increasing amounts of effort and money being pumped into them.

One of the companies that does this is Lockheed Martin, which is working on something it calls a layered laser defense system. It should include sea, air and ground systems capable of taking out large threats such as cruise missiles, and possibly even ballistic ones.

Back in February of this year, at the White Sands Missile Range, the company put to the test something it calls a “laser system with adaptive optics.” A video of the test was made public this week, and it reveals that using laser weapons against something is not nearly as spectacular as depicted in movies.

You see, a laser is nothing more than a device that shoots focused light. Humans can’t see light, and most of the time that means they don’t see laser beams either. At least, not the kind Lockheed Martin is using.

That’s why you’ll never get to see with the naked eye the laser beam Lockheed fired at the surrogate cruise missiles used in the test. You only get to see the two Beechcraft MQM-107 drones that played the role of cruise missiles suddenly fall out of the sky, their parachutes open, as if some catastrophic failure had occurred.

The defense contractor did not say what component and capability of the drones the laser knocked out, but the things suddenly became unable to sustain flight. Whatever it was, this was the first time “a modern laser system with adaptive optics negated a cruise missile.”

You can see the video of the test below.