The US has made a breakthrough in perfecting a new laser weapons system that may one day be used to defend Taiwan.
It is a laser or ray-gun type weapon that will eventually be able to take down multiple enemy missiles at the same time.
At a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, Larry Wortzel, a military expert with a special knowledge of Taiwan, was asked by US Republican Representative Steven Chabot about the approximately 1,100 Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan.
“Clearly, China has been threatening Taiwan for many, many years and bullying to a considerable degree. Relative to the missiles, is there anti-missile technology that would be helpful?” Chabot asked.
“My personal view is that we need to be working on lasers,” Wortzel said. “We don’t want to be shooting two or three missiles at another missile. We need to melt them right out of the sky, quickly.”
Later that day — and coincidentally — the US Office of Naval Research issued a statement saying that scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, had achieved a “remarkable breakthrough” in the Free Electron Laser (FEL) program.
They have perfected an “injector” capable of producing the electrons needed to generate megawatt-class laser beams for the Navy’s next-generation weapons system.
The breakthrough is being studied at a two-day design review conference in Virginia this weekend.
FEL program manager Quentin Saulter said the implications of the progress were “monumental.”
“This is a major leap forward for the program and for FEL technology,” he said.
Another scientific report says that the US Navy’s megawatt laser now has the potential to “zap enemy planes out of the sky and disable missile threats.”
“This revolutionary technology allows for multiple payoffs to the war fighter,” the Office of Naval Research said. “The ability to control the strength of the beam provides for graduated lethality. In fact, it provides an effective alternative to using expensive missiles against low value targets.”
“Not worrying about propulsion and working at the speed of light allows for precise engagement and the resulting low collateral damage,” it said.
What it means is that a large ship — or an island nation like Taiwan — would be able to shoot down very large numbers of incoming missiles at low cost and long before they reached their targets.
Last year, Reuters reported that a high-powered laser aboard a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet shot down an in-flight ballistic missile for the first time.
“The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense,” a statement from the Pentagon read.
Much of the development information about laser weapons is top secret and highly classified, but one source predicted they would be ready for testing over water in five to seven years.
As yet unforeseen problems could arise, but if the ray guns go into production they might allow Taiwan to defend against China’s ever-growing missile force.
A Pentagon source said that he agreed with Wortzel and that the laser anti-missile system might be ideal for Taiwan.
The source added that because such a system would be strictly defensive, the US might also be “well inclined” to sell it to Taipei when it becomes available.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS