Laser Technology

thumb|250px|A Humvee armed with a Laser Rifle, photo taken in 1998Laser Technology was a type of technology, mostly developed by NATO and especially the United States during the Cold War, based on utilizing lasers to inflict damage. The Soviet Union also dabbled in it, but as time went on, the Soviet energy weapon research became more interested in Red Mercury rather than in any sort of laser technology.
==History==
===NATO History===
Major Cold War-era NATO laser development technology started out with Project Excalibur, a program to develop a nuclear pumped x-ray laser as a directed energy weapon for ballistic missile defense. In 1988 the budget was cut dramatically, and the project was cancelled when the Third World War rolled around.
During the Cold War NATO started developing small devices known as Laser Barriers, which at first were simple military-grade laser fences, and later evolved into damaging or infantry-blocking barricades. As the eighties rolled around, the United States Army also began their work on a laser weapon, to be used by infanty, spearheaded by the laser weaponry research team at Area 51, led by Dr. Inga Karen Bittersweet. It's finished prototypes were given to DARPA's Paladin LAWS. Many of the generals of the US Army also expressed a desire to vield them as personal defence weapons. At first, this was denied by the Area 51 staff, but as the Third World War begun and US Army generals became highly valuable targets for the Soviets, they instantly send previously denied laser rifles to all the generals that previously wanted them.
thumb|250px|The finalized Laser RifleTo finish the laser rifle, the US government required a device known as the Laser Stabilizer; the only Laser Stabilizer in the world was in posession of Kali Bambo; an operative known as Martin MacDonald was ordered to purchase it; the transaction was going well, until Kali realized Martin was followed to the camp by the Congolese army and ordered his men to kill him, causing a three-way shootout between the Congolese armed forces, Kali's men and Martin. With the Stabilizer in US Army's hands, the final Laser Rifle was created at last, and handed out to several elite operatives, being used by American infantry during the invasion of the Soviet Union.
After the war, the United States Army expressed a keen interest in pushing this technology forward. Americans mounted laser rifles on Humvees, and even on a chasis of a M1 Abrams tank. The United States soon realized however, that laser technology is very expensive to manufacture and produce en masse. The Laser Rifle itself was produced in very limited quantities, with only 10 being finalized, and each one was not only an expensive and delicate machine to build, but also ate through industrial-grade high-voltage batteries like a kid does through a box of Twinkies. Thus, further experiments with lasers were relogated to several failed projects, non-lethal weapons, anti-air and anti-missile weaponry.
===Soviet Experiments===
thumb|250px|1K17 Szhatie unleashing it's laser barrageDevelopment of laser weapons in the Soviet Union began in 1964-1965. The main laser testing facility was built in Kazakhstan, becoming known as Terra-3, with the research being led by then young Velemir Katynov.
In 1981, Soviets made a laser weapon intended for use by their cosmonauts in outer space. It was designed to disable optical sensors on enemy spacecraft or to flash-blind enemy astronauts when engaged in an orbital combat aboard or out of spacecraft. Then, they developed a vehicle known as the 1K17 Szhatie, armed with a battery of laser projectors mounted in the turret, which were able to disable the optical-electronic equipment of enemy missiles, ground and aerial vehicles, and later, a prototype of a laser orbital weapon, known as the 17F19DM Polyus/Skif-DM.
Clearly the Soviets were somewhat interested in the potential of laser weaponry, but as the eighties rolled forward, and in 1990, the Third World War erupted, Red Mercury became the favourite in terms of technology, powering their Terminator soldiers, Walter Blanco's grenades, and homing missile launchers utilized by people such as Vladimir Demikhov, or the Red Juggernauts.
==Appearances==
*Reds Over World
Category:NATO Technology Category:Communist Technology