posted 07-25-2002 09:23 AM               

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Fighter plane's laser may blind civilians


19:00 24 July 02

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition

American defence contractors are developing a laser weapon for fighter aircraft that may be powerful enough to blind people on the ground, even if they are relatively far from the target, New Scientist can reveal.

The 100-kilowatt infrared laser, which is being developed for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter by defence companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, is far more powerful than any laser ever used in war. But because it is designed to attack targets such as other fighter aircraft, ground vehicles and anti-aircraft batteries, it is exempt from the Geneva Convention's ban on blinding weapons.

The ban came into force in 1996, and was ratified by the US in 1999 (see Why the Geneva Convention won't stop blinding by laser, below). However, it is riddled with loopholes that leave room for the proposed weapon. It only outlaws lasers explicitly designed to damage sight or cause permanent blindness, and overlooks blinding that might be caused incidentally.

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posted 07-25-2002 12:21 PM               

BOEING NKC-135
AIRBORNE LASER LAB/ALL

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The NKC-135A on display (S/N 55-3123) is one of 14 KC-135As permanently converted for special testing. It was extensively modified by the Air Force weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and used in an 11-year experiment to prove a high-energy laser could be operated in an aircraft and employed against airborne targets. During the experiment, the Airborne Laser Lab destroyed five AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a Navy BQM-34A target drone. The aircraft was flown to the Museum in May 1988.

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