compact laser weapon system – Techdirt (original) (raw)

Stories filed under: "compact laser weapon system"

DailyDirt: Our Crazy Drone-Filled World

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If you haven’t seen any tiny remote-controlled quadcopters circling in the air, you might need to get out a bit more. Maybe we shouldn’t get too paranoid about these things, thinking they’re black helicopters for the 21st century, but if you hear constant artificial buzzing noises, perhaps you should start gearing up to defend your home. Drones could be delivering your pizza for dinner someday, but there are all kinds of uses for this technology.

• If you combined enough tiny drone engines together, could you build a 1-man helicopter? Apparently, yes. But it’ll only fly for a few minutes and doesn’t get too far off the ground. It also vaguely looks like a contraption from the early 1900s, and this isn’t the first multi-copter ever flown that we’ve seen. [url]
• Drones can kill a lot of stuff, but how about mosquitoes? Spraying mosquito larvae from quadcopter drones to prevent mosquito growth will be tested this year in Florida — with approval from the FAA. [url]
• Some folks don’t want drones flying all over the place, and Boeing has a laser cannon just for them. Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapon System can shoot down small aircraft from a pretty good distance (as long as you can see your target with binoculars), and it only takes a couple of seconds to set a drone on fire. It’s probably a bit more expensive than a shotgun filled with birdshot, but it’s a lot more accurate and cool. [url]

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Filed Under: aircraft, compact laser weapon system, drones, flying car, helicopter, laser cannon, mosquitoes, multi-copter, personal mobility, weapons
Companies: boeing, faa