According to a report on the website of the US Popular Mechanics magazine, the US military is developing the most powerful laser weapon to date. The new weapon is called the “Tactical Ultrashort Platform Laser Army Pulse”(TUPLAP). Its power is 1 million times that of previously used weapons, and can generate one thousand billion watts of energy in 200 femtoseconds (1 femtosecond is one trillionth of a second).

According to the British New Scientist magazine recently reporting that this new laser weapon is based on the technology of emitting short-term, intermittent pulses. Although the technology has been used in laboratories, the US military hopes to make this technology powerful and able to target long-range targets, such as drones or missiles.

Up to now, the existing laser weapons are continuous wave lasers. These devices will continuously emit energy beams to the target, heating the surface of the target until the target melts.  The first such weapon was manufactured by the US Navy in 2014. After continuous improvement, the “Laser Weapon System Demonstrator” (LWSD) system was formed. These laser devices installed on warships were tested in May last year.

The new weapon looks like a laser that only appears in sci-fi movies, emitting light pulses similar to bullets. Moreover, compared with LWSD which can only generate 150 kilowatts, the TUPLAP can generate 1,000 gigawatts of energy in 200 femtoseconds.

Research claims that ordinary lasers are not effective at long distances because the beam will diffuse, but ultra-short lasers can be converted into light auto-focusing pulses, turning the air into a lens, and continuously refocusing the pulses. And it is very powerful, not melting the target, but breaking the target instantaneously. In fact, multiple industries have used this technology to pierce metal very precisely-only within a short distance.

In addition, new weapons will also use lasers to create electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects. When attacking a metal target, the laser pulse will quickly accelerate the electrons, and the moving charge will generate enough radio frequency energy to damage nearby electronic equipment. This phenomenon has also been verified in the laboratory, and a sufficiently powerful EMP can shoot down drones or missiles by destroying its control system.

The report of New Scientist confirmed that the weapon prototype has been commissioned by the American company Aquist. The company must deliver and display the equipment in August next year, and then the U.S. military will decide whether to continue to develop this weapon.