Currently, the development of "humane" weapons is popular. These include various laser devices for temporarily blinding the enemy. Unlike them, the Chinese development of 1995 does not differ in humanity and blinds the enemy forever.
In China, the development of laser weapons to blind the enemy has been carried out since the late 1980s. In 1995, the ZM-87 combat laser was presented at arms exhibitions in Abu Dhabi and the Philippines. In the same year, an international convention was adopted prohibiting blinding weapons as inhumane (I wonder how a weapon, the purpose of which to kill, can be humane?) And development was stopped. According to official data, only 22 ZM-87 units were produced. But there are rumors about the application.
In appearance, the ZM-87 looks like a heavy machine gun mounted on a machine, to which a cable from an external battery with the dimensions of a large car battery is led. The length of this combat laser is 84 centimeters and weighs 35 kilograms. The weapon "shoots" flashes with a frequency of 5 flashes per second. The radiation power of 15 mW is enough to burn out the retina at a distance of 3 kilometers, a special lens increases this to a distance of up to 5 km, and from 10 km the ZM-87 can cause temporary loss of vision in the enemy. Combat laser ZM-87 As you can see, the weapon is very effective. Indeed, when shooting, there is no need to take into account corrections for the distance to the target, crosswind, etc. When shooting at moving objects, for example, planes and helicopters, you do not need to take into account the target speed and calculate the lead. After all, the laser strikes in a perfect straight line and at the speed of light.
Now it is difficult to find even high-quality photographs of the ZM-87, but, as already mentioned, rumors are circulating. It would be strange if such an effective weapon did not continue to be improved and used. Even if it's prohibited.
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