US Navy deploys its first ever functional laser weapon

It’s official: the US Navy has entered the future. Vice Admiral John Miller tells Bloomberg that the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport, has been using the Navy’s Laser Weapon System in the Persian Gulf since late August. The high-tech arsenal is no threat to larger vessels, but it’s potentially ideal for defending against Iran’s fleet of smaller ships. The Ponce can use non-lethal laser flashes to spook enemies or thwart their sensors, and it can destroy small craft if they don’t heed warnings.