The Pentagon this week claimed two US pilots were injured when military-grade laser pointers were shone into their eyes from China’s navy base in Djibouti as the Americans came in to land at the US base.
Beijing has denied the allegations.
As part of China’s push to modernise its military technology and equipment it has been developing laser weapons – ranging from low-powered tactical beam emitters to a high-energy strategic weapons system. These are some of the latest tactical laser weapons China has revealed in recent years.
Low-air Guard-I
A ground or vehicle-based laser weapon system, its 10 kilowatts of power can cover an area of 12 sq km. It was used to shoot down more than 30 small air vehicles – including fixed-wing, multi-rotor and helicopters – during tests, with a 100 per cent success rate, according to the first official disclosure in 2014. It can destroy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, within a range of 2km – flying lower than 500m – in about 5 seconds. The technology was developed by the China Academy of Engineering Physics for security purposes around “major events in urban areas”. A system with greater power and range for ships is under development, according to Xinhua.