Cool technology but....
Pirates, like all bad guys, have rifles, pistols, grenade launchers or more. The do not arm themselves to blind or maim - they intend to kill anyone who tries to stop them. If the high tech laser fails to stop them, they'll still kill.
Good luck trying to convince the guy who puts his life on the line, to go up against a AR-15 with this laser gun.
Last month, a British defense company demonstrated how a non-lethal laser weapon can be used to ward off pirates. Now, American researchers have created a laser gun that sea bandits really wouldn’t want to mess with.
While the crystalline Neodymium Yttrium Aluminium Garnet laser canon, developed by BAE Systems, can temporarily disorient an assailant with a pulse of blinding light, another prototype called the TR3 Threat Deterrent Laser Rifle is compact and the laser settings can be adjusted to inflict some serious pain.
(To learn more about BAE Systems’ laser canon, check out my colleague John Herrman’s post here)
The TR3, developed by Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems and SPA Defense, can deliver a pretty intense 3-watt green laser at targets stationed up to one and a half miles away when operated at night. The rifle’s re-chargeable lithium-ion battery allows for up to 30 plus minutes of continuous firing.
David Crane of DefenseReview.com got to test out a prototype during the recent Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference or SHOT show and described the experience on his website:
We actually got to T&E the TR3 ourselves, and came away very impressed with it. You can adjust the intense green laser beam’s focus using a dial that surrounds the weapon’s emitter (“barrel”/”muzzle”). You can disperse the beam so that it’s eye-safe for hitting bad guys in the face, or dial the beam into a retina-frying focus.
Unfortunately, we didn’t shoot video of the TR3 operating, during the demo. We went back to the SPA Defense booth on that last day to do just that, but were unsuccessful.
A company-produced video of the TR3 in action may exist and Crane plans to upload footage if he ever gets his hands on it.
The TR3 is intended for military and defense markets only.
Photo: David Crane, DefenseReview.com (DR)
