Aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s new advanced laser weapon can not only shoot rockets and drones out of the sky, it can now sink attack boats from up to a mile away, according to a demonstration video posted online this week.
The Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) laser’s automatic infrared tracking can target specific points on an enemy boat, even on rocky open-sea areas, and burn a hole in the hull — causing it to take on water and sink before coming within attack range of a warship.
It only takes ADAM about 30 seconds to breach the hull and take down the boat.
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The tech is cheap, with the biggest cost stemming from the required 10-kilowatt power source — significantly cheaper than other munitions, and easy to deploy and use to guard various smaller navies and ships against pirates or other small maritime attackers.
This technology could prove particularly useful in the Persian Gulf, where the Iranian navy has developed small, fast crafts to exploit large warships’ weaknesses.