The US Army is developing its most powerful laser yet that is a million times more powerful than current systems.
Most laser weapons fire a continuous beam until a target melts or catches fire, but the Tactical Ultrashort Pulsed Laser (UPSL) for Army Platforms will emit short, pulse-like bursts.
Its being designed to reach a terawatt for a brief 200 femtoseconds, which is one quadrillionth of a second, compared to the 150-kilowatt maximum of current systems.
Even for that infinitesimal amount of time, the UPSL could vaporize the surface of a drone.
It’s also thought such a burst would disrupt nearby electronics systems, making it a functional electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
The US military group is aiming to have a working prototype by…