Ok so normally we’d just defer to Danger Room on all things defensive, but this was so cool we had to put it up.

For a couple of years now Boeing has been working on its Advance Tactical Laser. In a nutshell this thing is supposed to fit on a C-130 aircraft and be able to burn a 10cm hole in a target up to ten kilometres away.

What kind of laser could do that? It’s called a Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL), and according to this nifty US Patent by Boeing, it basically works by combining excited oxygen molecules with iodine. When the oxygen collides with the iodine, it excites the atom’s outer electrons, causing them to emit light at 1.315 mu.m (infrared).

The COIL laser is designed to deliver hundreds of kilowatts of power—enough juice apparently to burn a hole in (or at least singe) the top of this truck (see right). This video isn’t so hot, but if you watch the longer version on DR, you can see that the laser was fired from the air. So basically this thing is close to being operational.

By the way, a larger version of a the same kind of laser is being put into Boeing’s Airborne Laser, which, sooner or later, is going to be used to shoot down ballistic missiles as they launch.

Danger Room has pointed out just how incredible (and creepy) this sort of weapon is. As you can see, the infrared laser light is invisible to the human eye. Special operations is envisioning all sorts of clever ways to use it to secretly knock out distant targets, or even immolate individual insurgents. It’s the ultimate in stealthy, surgical strike capability.

But don’t hold out hope for a hand held version. The COIL takes up a lot of room. And because it’s chemical, it can only used about a hundred times before it has to be reloaded. Finally, the laser releases a toxic mix of gases like iodine, chlorine, fluorine, and hydrogen. All-in-all, it’s not something you’d probably want to carry in your pocket, even if it would fit.