Fighter plane's laser may blind civilians

American defence contractors are developing a laser weapon for fighter aircraft that may be powerful enough to blind people on the ground, even if they are relatively far from the target, New Scientist can reveal.

Laser-armed strike fighters could be sent into battle as early as 2015(Photo: AP)
The 100-kilowatt infrared laser, which is being developed for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter by defence companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, is far more powerful than any laser ever used in war. But because it is designed to attack targets such as other fighter aircraft, ground vehicles and anti-aircraft batteries, it is exempt from the Geneva Convention's ban on blinding weapons.

The ban came into force in 1996, and was ratified by the US in 1999 (see Why the Geneva Convention won't stop blinding by laser, below). However, it is riddled with loopholes that leave room for the proposed weapon. It only outlaws lasers explicitly designed to damage sight or cause permanent blindness, and overlooks blinding that might be caused incidentally.

"That protocol was purposely drafted to avoid capturing other types of laser weapons systems," says Stephen Goose of Human Rights Watch in Washington DC.