The Army's Experiments with Lightning

[Genichiro]

There's been a fair bit of buzz online of late over experiments with a technology called a "laser-induced plasma channel" ? essentially, laser-guided, artificially generated lightning bolts ? at the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. But, militarily, what's it good for?

The problem, one well-informed source told AOL Defense, is short range. If you set up Picatinny's lightning gun at one end of a football field, it couldn't hit a target at the other end: The beam fizzles out well before it gets 100 yards.

Full article here

So, if it has no range, then why bother, right? The idea of having something on hand to clear out mine fields without having to worry about extensive ammunition does sound promising. It's something that would help cut costs in this time of military budget cuts, so it's certainly worth looking into. They might even be able to find a few more uses for it (perhaps using it to strike at underground facilities through conductive surface equipment, allowing troops to disable them and leave them open to attack. The potential is there; let's see if we can make the best of it.

[Cirno]

I don't care if it's practical or not, it's cool, and I like it! I should use one of those on Gen

[Genichiro]

If you do, at least wrap me up in Christmas lights first. I want to go out in a pretty explosion of light.

[Cirno]

Sounds like fun; sure, I'll do that.

[Genichiro]

Yay, I can die while surrounded by pretty lights.