Current Military Applications

Abstract

The scientific work during the 1950s that led to the invention of the laser was followed closely by work in military research institutes all over the world. Much of the industrial and academic work was financed through military budgets and directed by military staffs. As soon as Theodore Maiman presented the first demonstration of a working laser, military staff officers and planners tried to investigate what military advantages could be gained from the new invention. Although in the beginning quite a few of them thought that they had a possible new weapon, it soon became clear that the available lasers were more likely to be used as tools for improving the efficiency of conventional weapons on the battlefield. That is exactly what happened at first. Lasers have found many military applications, not as new weapons, but rather as the supporting technology to enhance the performance of other weapons.