China develops laser weapon to take drones out of the sky

China says it has developed a laser weapon that can be used to take drones and small planes out of the sky. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the weapon is 100 percent accurate and the laser currently has a range of 2 kilometers.

The laser weapon is said to have been built and tested by the China Academy of Engineering Physics. In the tests, the laser weapon would have shot down all 30 drones it was supposed to hit, giving the Chinese army a very accurate weapon.

Currently, the laser weapon is said to be able to knock out objects flying at a maximum height of 500 meters and traveling at speeds of 50 m/s. A drone or other small flying objects could be detected and disabled by the laser weapon in 5 seconds.

According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the laser weapon is much more accurate and therefore more effective than helicopters or snipers against drones, but work is still underway on lasers with a longer range and a more powerful laser beam. However, the laser weapon could already be used during large-scale events, for example, because the Chinese rulers argue that terrorists could carry out attacks with cheap drones.