The future of weapons will be in directed energy products (laser, sound, microwave etc.). There's a quite a few large companies in the directed energy space. But at this year's SHOT Show I ran into an old teammate of mine Chris Kinney who is now working for SPA Defense and he gave me a backroom demo of their new less than lethal laser gun (pictured above).
The green laser causes temporary blindness and immediate nausea after brief exposure. According to Chris, the system is in use by some major shipping companies off the Horn of Africa to repel Somali pirates and has successfully done so. I think he mentioned a range of over one mile -- not very shabby.
I think we'll see an increase in directed energy products in active use in DoD and Law Enforcement. Traditional weapons manufacturers would be wise to pay attention and start integrating directed energy components onto and into traditional weapon systems as options.
At the war fighter level an example would be a SCAR combined with a Taser/laser/light all-in-one option integrated onto a forward hand-grip. I can think of a few room entries in Afghanistan wherehaving a Taser option would have come in handy to put someone down without taking them out. Cool stuff....
Brandon out --
Kit Up! contributor Brandon Webb is a former SEAL, sniper instructor and author of 21st Century Sniper: A Complete Practical Guide.
