The US army has successfully tested a laser device that shoots out 50 billion watt-powered bolts of lightning. "We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated targets," admitted George Fischer, a physicist leading the project at the Picatinny Arsenal research lab in New Jersey.

Rather than harnessing actual bolts of lightning, the Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) works by pairing an intense laser beam with an electromagnetic field strong enough to rip electrons from surrounding air molecules. This produces a beam of plasma that travels along the laser beam and can be redirected using mirrors. "The plasma channel conducts electricity way better than un-ionised air, so if we set up the laser so that the filament comes near a high voltage source, the electrical energy will travel down the filament," said Fischer.

The resulting flash of energy appears like a bolt of lightning.


Fischer went on to explain how by ensuring the laser pulse is short and sharp, the energy can be significantly increased: "If a laser puts out a pulse with modest energy, but the time is incredibly tiny, the power can be huge. During the laser pulse it can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second."

He added: "For very powerful and high intensity laser pulses, the air acts like a lens, keeping the light in a small-diameter filament. We use an ultra-short-pulse laser of modest energy to make a laser beam so intense that it focuses on itself in air and stays focused in a filament."

The team learnt to keep power intensity low until the beam was targeted accurately. Otherwise, it posed a danger of destroying the laser itself by self-focusing on the air around it.


It works best when focused on targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground around them. In this way, it should be able to strike specific objects, such as vehicles, without causing excess damage to the surrounding area.

The successful model tested features a series of adaptations that should ensure it can survive tough conditions in the field and stay powered-up for long stretches.

Image: Shutterstock