Now you see them, now you don’t. The art of war is getting more and more technologically advanced. In a world where stealth is an advantage a mid-infrared supercontinuum laser may make the difference between life and death. Normally most lasers emit light in just one wavelength while supercontinuums has a broad range of wave lengths. Now here is the interesting part, mid-infrared super-continuum lasers emit minimal light and the effect of the laser if felt as heat. This heat imitates the heat signature of a helicopter engine therefore causing a missile directed to it to malfunction. The missile loses track of the true target.
This research was developed by researchers at the University of Michigan. It aims to protect military helicopters from heat-seeking missiles. The big bang of blowing up a incoming missile is not really the case here, instead the UM system will jam its sensors. The distance wherein the the UM system can detect and shoot a mid-infrared continuum laser is 2.9 km or 1.8 miles. Grants to support the UM system had been pouring in as Omni Sciences, the company that developed the laser weapon received US $1 million from the US Army and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
