Important Innovations

Laser Innovation for the US Military Source:  Raytheon HELWS MRZR Raytheon's Laser Shooting ATV It's a powerful laser on a dune buggy for the US Military.  Raytheon's HELWS MRZR laser-shooting dune buggy, all terrain vehicle. Once the human operator confirms the target, a fiber optic electric laser fires a controlled beam that instantly destroys the target. Battery or Electric Powered A simple battery charge enables 30 blasts.  If there's an electrical hookup, the magazine can last indefinitely.  This laser weapon developed by Raytheon for the US military has been cited as one of the most important innovations of 2018.  Raytheon has mounted the laser on a Polaris ATV.  For more laser and other energy news, go to my colleague Ed Kane's Amazon Author Page  amazon.com/author/ekane

Lasers on Active Military Duty Source:  Stock Image of Military Jets Laser Aircraft Repairs Engineers at RMIT University in Australia are developing laser technology to manufacture and repair steel and titanium parts for defense aircraft. The process sends metal powder into a laser beam, scans the powder across the surface and adds new material in a precise, web-like formation. It's basically a high tech welding process that makes or rebuilds metal parts layer by layer. The bonded metal has similar properties to the original metal and in some cases superior. Laser Tech Being Tested The process is being tested on defense aircraft in Australia.  The value could be two-fold: saving time and money.  Onsite repairs on military aircraft would save time as opposed to waiting for days for parts to be delivered from a warehouse.  Also it saves money as the part is fixed instead of being replaced. The RMIT researchers say that by enabling on-site production and repair of parts,