Technology is a great force multiplier. We learned that, and our Iraqi opponents learned that, in 1991, in Operation Desert Storm, which was one of the first well-publicized mass uses of smart-weapons. We are still seeing that proved true today, with the use of high-tech weapons against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and in Iran itself.
Now, in the latest example of Iran's lessons in "you had no idea who you were messing with," American forces are using powerful infrared lasers to target Iranian weapons and equipment.
The US military has been deploying lasers in the Strait of Hormuz to knock out regime hardware, taking out “drones and incoming cruise missiles at a much lower cost than using more expensive kinetic weapons like missiles,” the Department of War recently confirmed.
The US project to harness laser power has been 50 years in the making and outstrips the capabilities of any other military on Earth.
“We can very specifically track and target drones and put the spot exactly where we want it, [in order] to disable its sensors or kill [i.e. explode] the drone itself,” Mark Neice, president of Directed Energy Consultants, which works with the military, told The Post.
The best part is the control system.
Somewhat surprisingly, the laser weapons are operated by soldiers using reconfigured Xbox game console controllers.
“The video games industry figured out what the best controller was and now the US military is saying, ‘Well, why reinvent the wheel with a specialized control system where you can just use an Xbox controller or something really similar to do the job?'”
That's an interesting tidbit. It makes the lasers more intuitive to use, especially for the younger cohorts who grew up using these kinds of controllers. And, we see from Fox's account, that does indeed seem to be the case. Even the Secretary of War has been trained up on these systems.
Here's the thing: Every war, everywhere and every time, has been won or lost by logistics. In the modern battlespace, a big part of that involves ammo and munitions: Producing it, packing it, and shipping it to where it needs to be. We have been burning through munitions at quite the clip in this dust-up. But all a laser requires is a power source. A big power source, but the United States Navy has those. What's more, these systems strike at the speed of light, and have (presumably) a much lower firing signature than a gun or missile launch. That has to be causing what's left of Iran's armed forces even more headaches than they already are suffering.
Right now, the Department of War has stated that these lasers are being used effectively against drones and cruise missiles.
This is an interesting development. And it's a sure thing Russia and China are watching, and developing counterparts of their own. But right now, the conflict is with Iran, and with what's left of their infrastructure, it seems unlikely they will be able to quickly develop anything to counter our forces' powerful laser systems. Granted, this isn't a brand-new technology. The Pentagon and the military contractors have been experimenting with laser weapons for some time now. But we are now seeing them used in the field against real targets, and the initial indications are that they are working. That's good news by any measure.
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