China Claims Breakthrough in Cooling Combat Lasers

China’s military scientists claim their new high-energy laser weapons can now operate ‘infinitely’, thanks to a new cooling system that completely eliminates the build-up of waste heat.

Chinese researcher Yuan Shenghfu, August 4 in Acta Optica Sinica,A has made a new laser cooling system using active structures and optimized gas flow to remove heat while also reducing turbulence and vibration within the laser. It helps keep the focusing mirrors of the laser weapon clean.

Yuan’s team developed a compact and efficient internal beam path conditioner. The system blows gas through the weapon to remove waste heat and improve gas cleanliness. It also aims to optimize gas flow and minimize size and weight.

China’s National University of Defence Technology have developed a cooling system that blows clean gas through the laser chamber, allowing the removal of waste heat and thus maintaining a suitable operating temperature. This unique system enables the lasers to remain powered up indefinitely.

The system has several key components, including an air source, a heat exchanger, a gas flow control system, and a gas injection/suction system. The air source provides clean, dry air to the system, which the heat exchanger cools to the desired temperature, theoretically enabling continuous operation.

7 thoughts on “China Claims Breakthrough in Cooling Combat Lasers”

  1. If all it took to make a combat laser super effective was to add some better radiators to the laser, then someone at Lockheed Martins High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI) needs to be demoted.

    • 25 years ago a us defense contractor was asked to reverse engineer certain laser technology because the laser in the navys laser targeting systems was patanted by the Chinese.

      They are behind us and copy things most of the time but they ARE advancing, and at a growing rate.

  2. This has been possible with any heat removing tech… do not see anything new here Brain. Using gas as a convective heat transfer medium… works but it is not very efficient. Need lots of gas to remove a little bit of heat. Wind comes to mind.

Comments are closed.