It’s no secret that Lockheed Martin is working on a laser gun that can blast drones out of the sky for the US Navy, but what about shore defences? Meet ADAM: the high-powered laser turret that can destroy a small patrol craft from over a kilometre away.
ADAM is Lockheed Martin’s high-powered laser turret that uses sophisticated targeting systems to lock onto everything from a small patrol craft approaching shore through to much larger military craft, before firing a concentrated laser beam at the hull, setting it on fire in seconds.
The system can track a craft via infrared as it zips behind waves and zig zags across the watery landscape, and maintains a fired laser beam on its target while it’s moving.
It’s a 10-kilowatt laser, which spools up to deal the maximum amount of damage over 30 seconds. It probably isn’t something that would be effective in war, but it certainly has a use for the US Navy ships combatting threats like piracy on the high seas.
The weapon is part of the US military’s ongoing laser push, that sees the pew-pew cannons being mounted on everything from jets to aircraft carriers.