Zeus may have had it right after all. The god of thunder uses lightning to strike his opponents down and now the United States Army is trying to harness the power of lightning for its own purposes. They are experimenting with laser-induced plasma channel that basically uses a laser as a pathway to shoot bolts of plasma down the stream to the target. The laser-guided lightning weapon could precisely hit targets such as enemy tanks or unexploded roadside bombs, because such targets represent better conductors for electricity than the ground.

“We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated (targets),” said George Fischer, lead scientist on the project at the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. “During the duration of the laser pulse, it can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second.” I bet it is enough to fry an enemy combatant though.

Photo courtesy the US Army.

Using directed energy weapons, while used in this scenario to disable tanks and IEDs, could theoretically be used one day to incapacitate an other human combatant and not just kill them.

Army researchers used an “ultra-short-pulse laser of modest energy” that keeps the laser beam focused through its own intensity. In doing this the laser’s electro-magnetic field can harvest electrons from air molecules to create the plasma pathway for electricity to follow. These laser-induced plasma channels could also be used to shoot direct high-powered microwave pulses. These microwave pulses are already being used by the US Air Force. They put them in missiles and use them to burn out the electronic systems of air defense centers, military jets or drones.

The future is bright for new military technology. This great lightning weapon could potentially join the US Navy’s railgun, and the US Army’s hypersonic weapons. If this weapon does come to the battlefield, look for it to be in 20-30 years. Now if I can only figure out how to shoot lightning out of my fingertips.

Main photo courtesy of Lucas Arts