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China Claims Development of "Portable Laser Weapon"

posted by mrpg on Thursday July 05 2018, @06:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the game-on dept.

takyon writes:

China Claims to Have a Laser Assault Rifle That Can Set Clothes on Fire

China allegedly has a "laser assault rifle" that can fire a thousand shots at a time, "carbonizing" human skin and tissue.

The ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle, profiled in the South China Morning Post, is described as a laser wonder weapon. The article raises more questions than it answers, though Beijing's research into laser weapons is particularly pertinent given recent allegations that Chinese military personnel have injured U.S. military personnel with high-powered lasers.

According to the report, the ZKZM-500 is a handheld laser assault rifle. Unlike ordinary sleek assault rifles, this weapon is a clunky rectangular shape with a pistol grip, foregrip, and a telescopic sight. The weapon is powered by a lithium battery capable of supplying power for up to a thousand two-second shots.

[...] [It's] difficult to believe this weapon is as powerful as advertised. Although the article discusses the weapon's burning effects in detail, the ZKZM-500's wattage is conveniently left out. [...] Power storage is another problem. The ZKZM-500 can reportedly fire a thousand two-second shots, the equivalent of 33 minutes of laser power, from a "lithium battery." There's no way a weapon the size of a rifle can store that much energy internally given today's technology, even if it were stuffed with batteries. To store the equivalent of 33 minutes of laser power would require a considerable power supply outside the rifle itself.

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by frojack on Thursday July 05 2018, @09:02PM (3 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Thursday July 05 2018, @09:02PM (#703236) Journal

    No, specifying a mm caliber is NOT fine. It leaves a serious question as to the size of the beam

    You should have quit after your first sentence.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 05 2018, @10:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 05 2018, @10:27PM (#703278)

    How does "15mm caliber" provide less information than ".50 caliber"?

  • (Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Thursday July 05 2018, @10:42PM

    by insanumingenium (4824) on Thursday July 05 2018, @10:42PM (#703283) Journal

    Brah, quit trolling, it isn't a good look on you. Your pedantry isn't even accurate. There is absolutely no issue with specifying a caliber in millimeters.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @07:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @07:37AM (#703761)

    Sorry, but calibre as a mechanical property is the diameter in arbitrary units of something of circular section, qualitatively.
    From French, Arabic, Greek when inches and fireguns wasn't even invented.