With a laser operating on about 30 kilowatts of electricity — and possibly three times that in the future — the cost amounts to a few dollars per shot, Thompson said.

The "Star Wars" analogy isn't a bad one.

Just like in the movies, the Navy's laser directs a beam of energy that can burn through a target or fry sensitive electronics. Unlike the movie, the laser beam is invisible to the human eye.

The targeting system locks onto the target, sending a beam of searing heat. "You see the effect on what you are targeting but you don't see the actual beam," Ziv said.

Other nations are developing their own lasers, but the Navy is more advanced at this point.

Most folks are stunned to learn the technology is ready for deployment, Ziv said.

"It's fair to say that there are other countries working on this technology. That's safe to say. But I would also say that a lot of what makes this successful came from the way in which we consolidated all of the complexity into something that can be operated by (a single sailor)," he said.

据美国媒体2月17日报道，美国海军打算2013年夏天首次在军舰上部署激光炮，并于2年之内对磁轨炮进行初步测试。这些未来范十足的装备颇有电影《星球大战》的风格。

***电磁武器

美国海军计划夏天在“庞塞”号军舰上部署激光炮。虽然只是原型机，其操作已经非常简单，一名士兵就能胜任。“庞塞”号曾是一艘运输船，近年来被改装成高科技浮动基地，主要在波斯湾区保护军舰，应对无人机、快艇等“不对称威胁”。

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