The US Air Force is currently planning to arm B-52 bombers with laser weapons. For aeronautical laser weapons to be effective, an externally-mounted POD must be in place and plenty of electric power onboard. This technology is currently in the experimental and test stage.
Laser technology is quite diverse with many applications. For example, doctors offices are now removing tattoos using new cutting-edge laser technology that’s less expensive and less painful than previous versions. Using traditional lasers to wipe away tattoos takes as many as 20 sessions. Lasers are also now being used by scientists to measure time without clocks. By using photo emissions, time can now be measured in one billionth of one billionth of a second, according to EPFL or the École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.
According to Industrial Lasers, the US Department of Energy (DOE) recently granted nearly $4 million to a group of companies working to develop ultrafast-pulsed laser technology (UFP), or ultrafast lasers that will make some manufacturing processes significantly more efficient with half the cycle time. This new technology would also create gas direct injection (GDI) fuel injectors that would be 10% more fuel-efficient than existing GDIs.
China is doing its part by pushing ahead with its own development of laser technology. China has domestically produced advanced military laser technology similar in quality to Western standards. Finally, to cap it all off, new laser technology is being developed to create laser communications and visible light communications in outer space.
In the following video, Industrial Laser Solutions uses a laser for surface cleaning.
