China unveils 2.47kW portable laser weapon that works in Arctic cold, Saharan desert

Interesting Engineering ^ | June 22, 2025 | Christopher McFadden

[Red Badger]

Sharks optional...................

[blackdog]

(Frickin’ sharks)

[Red Badger]

At least the sharks won’t get blisters now...............

[PGR88]

You just have to haul and set-up 5 acres of solar panels along to make it a fully green weapon

[montag813]

Perfect for Moonraker One

[Magnum44]

[ConservativeMind]

Nice assassination tool, it would appear.

[marktwain]

You just have to haul and set-up 5 acres of solar panels along to make it a fully green weapon.

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It appears the power supply is not included.

[wally_bert]

Harbor Freight’s will have the complete package on sale for $99 with a coupon eventually.

It might work once, work properly, or not at all. Hard to figure quality control.

[Tell It Right]

Can any FReepers knowledgeable about lasers help me out? I'm having trouble processing the laser being 2kW.

I know how much power 2kW is. For example, when my hybrid water heater runs in heat pump mode it consumes only 380W. But when I have family stay over I set it to run in heat strips mode like a normal electric water heater, in which case it runs at 4kW. Thus, I'm aware that this new weapon is purported to use half of that (2kW).

What I don't know is how powerful is that? Is it a beam that slowly fries the electrical components of an enemy if the laser is on it for a long duration?

[Olog-hai]

If true …

Famous last words.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Not half.

2kW = 2000W

[Red Badger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdjVpX2Rg4

[woodbutcher1963]

I bought a grinder at Harbor Freight once about 16 years ago.
I plugged it in. It worked for less than one minute and then died.

I took it back and went and bought a Dewalt.

[Wuli]

I keep getting the feeling that our top government scientific labs, like Los Alamos and others are all off on things their staffs merely want to do, and no longer have a U.S. national security/national defense focus, at all. We need a “DOGE” effort on all top government scientific research outfits and federal funded private and academic research.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Wait, never mind. Just saw what you were saying.

It’s 2kW focused on a small area. Like a magnifying glass focusing sunlight to melt through or burn the outer material to burn the inner parts.

[Tell It Right]

I meant half of 4kW is 2kW, not half of 380W is 2kW.

[blackdog]

A 2,470 watt laser ain’t much of a laser. You need 11,000 watts just to run a decent plasma cutter to cut mild steel or stainless.

[Red Badger]

“Top men!”.......................