Anti-Piracy Laser Gun

Piracy is one among the greatest problems of our seafarers. It is a global threat to life and properties that needs to be resolved. How can seafarers defend themselves if they are only armed with fire hoses while the pirates are wielding AK-47 and RPGs? Maritime laws prohibit ships from possessing deadly weapons like guns that’s why seafarers are left with the option of defending their ship with what they have on-board.

Since commercial ships are not allowed to possess deadly weapons, seafarers are at mercy of the pirates. But what if one day the maritime law realized that there is really a need to arm the vessels? What are the benefits and consequences it might bring? And what is the right weapon to be used?

Here’s a video of a military research using a laser to disable a small vessel. This could be the solution.

The weapon used is a solid-state, high-energy laser, mounted on the deck of Navy’s self-defense test ship. As you can see the laser beam focus on a specific spot even though the small craft is moving up and down due to the waves. Probably the aiming technology used is a simple mirror servo which is usually used in laser shows. The tracking is super fast because we are dealing with the speed of light.

So imagine if your vessel is equipped with this weapon. Pirates will think twice on attacking your ship. If they do then they can be neutralized right away. But imagine also if all ships possess this kind of weapon, it may be used by terrorists to cause chaos around the world. That’s why maritime laws prohibit the possession of deadly weapons to prevent cases like terrorism and violence between ship’s crew.