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Shop NowOne of China’s amphibious warfare ships has been spotted with a new laser weapon attached. The experts note that the Pooh Bear’s latest move “signals a bold leap in its naval capabilities.” It’s meant to send messages to both Taiwan and the Pentagon, “ramping up tensions in the Pacific.” Shifts in technology are making energy-based defenses a necessity, not an option.
Laser weapon system
China isn’t the first nation to play with laser weapons, we have a few of our own. We’re still trying to work the bugs out of ours and that’s probably the idea behind the PLA mounting one on a “Type 071 amphibious transport dock.”
Over at The War Zone, they believe it’s specifically the Siming Shan bearing hull number 986.
The coherent light weapon was spotted “aft of the bow’s 76mm gun” and it’s “concealed under a dome-like cover when not in use.” We mounted a few of our own for testing purposes, for instance, the USS Portland has what the Pentagon likes to call a “Laser Weapon System Demonstrator.”
据新报道，中共国海军最近对其071型两栖船坞运输舰四明山号进行了升级，配备了新型高功率激光武器系统。 According to new reports, the Chinese Navy has recently upgraded its Type 071 amphibious transport dock, the Siming Shan, with a new high-power laser weapon system. pic.twitter.com/DME9Y5zNNZ
— 否极泰来 (@wwgy2023) August 25, 2024
Beijing isn’t providing any of the specifics but the gear is “expected to bolster defense against unmanned aircraft and small boat swarms.”
You can expect the gizmo to have “dazzler capabilities to blind sensors and seekers.” That’s a lot more practical task for a laser to accomplish with accuracy.
Zapping missiles with ray-guns is still in the science fiction stage. Unlike the magnetic catapult for the moon which China nearly has ready to launch.
Used against the Philippines
Along with alerting the public to the new addition to the Siming Shan, Asia Times reports for the first time that “a laser weapon against the Philippine military in a series of maritime standoffs in June.” We new about the standoffs but not the high tech weaponry in use.
One episode is the one where the Chinese Coast Guard tried to board the Second Thomas Shoal resupply boats like pirates, with an ax and long bladed knives. We’re just now learning they aimed what appears to be a coherent light weapon “at Philippine personnel documenting the encounter.”
Back in February, 2023, the Philippines “accused China of directing a military-grade laser at a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, BRP Malapascua.” It “temporarily blinded the Philippine crew.”
How China's Space Laser, High-Power Microwave Weapons Could Revolutionize War: https://t.co/Kpd7MoekTG
— ufobot (@ufob0t) August 19, 2024
That was done “soon after the Philippines granted the U.S. more comprehensive access to its military bases.” The Chinese are learning from the “Ukraine war and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.”
Ukrainian drones “inflicted significant damage against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet while the Houthi’s arsenal of ballistic missiles and suicide drones have strained US and allied interceptor missile stockpiles.” The answer is laser weapons. Ours are producing mixed results.
“Although the US Navy has deployed experimental lasers, such as the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) and the 120-kilowatt High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS), their effectiveness against fast-moving or non-optical sensor weapons is still limited.“
