FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Of Course, China Is Developing Space-Based Laser Weapons

March 14, 2018 (EIRNS)—

“Like the U.S. Defense Department, the [People’s Liberation Army] PLA has long understood the transformative potential of directed-energy weapons, including lasers, EML, and microwave weapons. In 2015, the PLA published the book, Light War, in which authors Li Bingyuan, Huyan Ning, and Wang Shenliang write that in 30 years directed-energy weapons will dominate the battlefield ... and the authors put special emphasis on space-based energy weapons.”

So reports an article in March 5 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology. Author Richard D. Fisher continues:

“One significant space-weapons proposal was made in the December 2013 issue of the journal Chinese Optics, titled ‘Development of Space-Based Laser Weapons.’ The authors are from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, a leading Chinese laser-weapon developer. They proposed a 2023 completion for a 5-ton low-Earth orbit laser weapon platform equipped with a 1 MW chemical laser capable of hitting targets out to 5,000 km. Four could be launched by a Casic solid-fuel, potentially mobile, 20-ton payload space-launch vehicle now under development.”