Defend against lasers

For nearly two decades, the US Army Research Laboratory strives to develop materials to protect ground-based vehicles and soldiers from lasers.

>>> New"Eye" for fighter

Today's lasers can disorient troops or even hurt them, causing permanent blindness. They can also easily destroy key defense camera systems. For example, in the context of armored vehicles moving in the city, due to limited visibility, soldiers in the vehicle must rely on the vehicle's camera lens to observe the surrounding roads. What will happen if the enemy shoots the laser at these cameras?

The US Army has found a laser-blocking material - (Photo: ARL)

Fox News quoted lead researcher Andy Mott as saying the laser threats are increasing day by day.'Lasers with different pulses and wavelengths are being developed every day. We want to find ways to protect future electronic sensors as well as the current observation system , 'said Mott. To protect human eyes and electronic eyes 'eyes', the army is taking a new approach: creating materials that allow light to pass regularly but block laser light. For more than 7 years, the laboratory cooperates with many other organizations of the US Army Materials Command (AMC), including the Center for Construction and Development of Army Vehicle Research (TARDEC). , as well as the Night Vision Laboratory, specializing in treating targets on the battlefield despite day and night. As a result, from the newly researched successful materials, the US Army can own anti-laser glasses, laser-blocking tanks .

Demining equipment

While the army announces the results of laser defenses, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) also reveals a promising technology that allows the creation of self-created bomb demolition devices. battlefield. Self-explosive devices (IEDs) are always a constant threat to soldiers and people in the war zone. Therefore, the first priority is how to detect them before being detonated. Bomb hunting dogs and explosive detectors are the two currently applied methods for detecting explosives, but US Naval Research Laboratory experts are implementing a different approach. It is using nanotechnology, which is low cost and easier to implement. In addition to being difficult to detect, chemical traces of the IED can easily be distracted by common compounds such as car smoke or perfume. The Navy's new Sin-VAPOR sensor is evaluated to have potential applications not only in battlefields but also to protect areas of high risk of attack, from the airport to the stadium.

Sin-VAPOR has impressive sensitivity. Dr. Christopher Field of NRL explains: ' Let's assume a human hair is 100 microns in diameter. If you cut your hair in half and look at the cut, we can fit 1 million nanowires into it. ' NRL said the new technology is different from existing technologies because it applies 3D knowledge to maximize surface and increase detection capabilities. The ultimate goal is to create sensors that are about the size of a small phone, need less energy to operate. Technologies such as Sin-VAPOR are being placed in high hopes of upgrading the ability to detect IEDs on the battlefield, such as warning soldiers about the recent sarin poisoning attacks in Syria.