Laser Weapons

To any sci-fi geek worth their salt, laser weaponry is really "where it's at." Now I am not talking about fantasy here, but honest to goodness laser weaponry. In an attempt to battle pirates out at sea, a defense company believes it has the answer: laser cannons.

Well, these cannons won't fry the ship or anything, but the lasers can be used to disorient and blind pirates giving sailors on other vessels a good chance.

The company, BAE Systems, tested the lasers more as an energy directed flood light. It really is aimed at commercial use and not military. The benefits are the lights can be flashed from far away as a warning and the blinding effect works in the day and at night. I particularly like how Wired put it: Quite the alternative to paying Yemen’s Ministry of Interior for U.S.-provided escort boats.

Ok, sure, we're still far from actual laser cannons and ray guns, but it's pretty neat. The lasers even have their own targeting system so it is pretty advanced. When they actually get put out in real situations, I would like to see how they fare. For now, I still want my ray gun.