Iain Boyd discusses how antidrone lasers work

Iain Boyd was interviewed in a new Scientific American piece on the use of laser-based weapons systems. 

Boyd, a professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, is a national security expert and also the director of the CU Boulder Center for National Security Initiatives. 

The article discusses the development of military lasers and the recent temporary airspace restriction over the El Paso International Airport, reportedly to avoid conflicts with laser weapons being used to target drones crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

Boyd said laser weapons systems have significant benefits, as they can fire continuously without being reloaded. However, they also present a unique negative.

“If you fire a laser at a drone and miss it, that laser beam will keep on going for a long way. It might hit something else or dazzle a pilot," Boyd said.

Read the full article at Scientific American...