Since November 2008, the 3rd ESC has had 64 laser incidents reported in Iraq, resulting in 45 documented injuries to soldiers. Two of those injuries were permanent — one soldier is now legally blind in one eye, Hayes said.

     Both Multi-National Corps—Iraq and 3rd ESC Commander Brig. Gen. Michael Lally are stepping up laser safety and training efforts, including confiscating some unapproved lasers and establishing green laser training requirements and detailed safety accident reporting and training, officials said.

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   These two articles below brought up a couple of interesting points that guys in war zones are going to have to think about in the future and even now.  Having a pair of sunglasses or goggles with laser protective lenses is going to be more important to have, as lasers develop and find their way onto the battlefield in new and interesting ways.  The military is already experiencing laser injuries with  basic laser aiming devices, and I only see that increasing on the military side of things.  But are there statistics on contractor injuries, and is the industry ready for this coming evolutions of battlefield lasers?

   In the first article below, they discuss weaponized lasers and how the DoD wants to purchase Revision eyewear for the troops. We will probably see many offerings of laser protected lenses coming on to the the tactical eyewear scene, as it should.  As for companies issuing this type of protection, who knows.  More than likely it will take numerous injuries before they react and do the right thing.  Or it will take a mandate by the DoD, much like with body armor and helmets, in order to operate on the battlefield. Until then, it will more than likely fall back on the individual contractor to decide if they want to wear the stuff.

   Which leads me to my next point.  Perhaps the laser coating or whatever protective element to the glasses, should become standard for tactical eyewear?  Like under new Milspec standards, ballistics protection would include protection against lasers.  I know this is nothing new and is being talked about in military circles. The military even has a manual on laser range safety.  But that is for laser range finder/pointer stuff, and this new generation of battlefield lasers are just a tad bit more lethal.

   And as the second article on laser injuries indicates, those dazzling green lasers that you see the troops use all the time, are actually causing blindness and eye injuries.  Yikes.  With that said, I wonder how many contractors have been hit with green lasers intentionally or accidently while on the battlefield?  How many guys coming up on check points manned by overzealous guards, were zapped by those things?  Laser protective eyewear should be something to think about.

   With the really big stuff coming on to the scene, the problems I could see, is the accidental reflection maybe?  A large beam hits a car mirror and reflects it onto a convoy or something? Or they bounce a laser off of a satellite reflector or a drone reflector, and now you have ‘death rays’ coming from the sky. lol

    If they get that Boeing 747 with a laser in the nose operational, then they could be throwing beams from that.  On the plus side, these lasers will be much more precise than dropping a bomb, but I wonder if an enemy could use a mirror and use that large beam to their advantage?  Or the enemy could get into making really high powered green or blue lasers, and try to blind soldiers or ignite gas tanks and fuel stations from a distance.  They could also start wildfires with the things, in order to entrap patrols with fire. There are plenty of DIY hacks on youtube in order to make such lasers, and their uses are only limited by their imagination.

   Now another thing I was thinking about, is using these high powered lasers to target individuals. It’s one thing to use them to destroy jets, mortars, rockets, and whatnot in the air.  But to take one dude out, in a group of people, with a well placed laser shot, would be impressive. It would trump using a Hellfire, and taking out entire villages to just get one guy.       I could see bouncing a laser off of a reflector, guided by satellite, and right into the cranium of some Taliban leader who is surrounded by women and children. That would pretty much destroy the enemy’s ability to protect themselves with human shields, or to use collateral damage for propaganda purposes. You could also use the thing to take out IED’s, snipers or machine gun emplacements.  Now that I think about it, I could totally picture a drone circling the battlefield, and using the onboard targeting system to feed into the satellite reflector, and zapping enemy combatants like flies. Who knows, but one thing is for sure, lasers on the battlefield are on the rise and they are just one more thing to think about out there. -Matt

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Ray Guns Real: Army Betting Big on Laser Weapons

Gene J. Koprowski

January 21, 2010

The military envisions a future of laser warfare — ultra-precise weapons based on devastatingly powerful beams of light. It’s only a matter of time until the U.S. Army fights terrorists and other enemy combatants with laser beams, engaging in battles seen previously only in movies like ‘Starship Troopers’ and ‘Star Trek.’

The ray gun is real … or at least it will be soon.

The U.S. Army is betting big on laser warfare — designing, testing and perfecting ultra-precise weapons based on devastatingly powerful beams of light. And given recent developments, it’s only a matter of time until the military has in its arsenal a weapon that until now has been the staple of science fiction — the ray gun.

Set your phasers to kill.

Boeing, one of the Pentagon’s top contractors, already has a laser weapon that will improve the military’s ability to counter artillery, mortar, drone aircraft and even rockets, a spokesman tells FoxNews.

Boeing’s is the highest-profile program of all of the projects under development for the Department of Defense, and last week it took a step closer to reality. At its facility in Huntsville, Ala., Boeing accepted a military truck built by Oshkosh Defense that will carry its laser beam control system into battle.

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Tags: battlefield lasers, gear, injuries, lasers, Medical, Weapons