An improvised bomb is blown up by an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Special Unit in northern Iraq in late 2005. Bomb disposal is a notoriously dangerous job (Image: Filippo Monteforte / AFP / Getty)

THE next weapon in the US army’s arsenal could be a laser-guided microwave blaster designed to destroy explosives.

The weapon, called the Multimode Directed Energy Armament System, uses a high-power laser to ionise the air, creating a plasma channel that acts as a waveguide for the stream of microwaves. The device could destroy the electronic fuse of an explosive device or missile, such as a roadside bomb, …