The US Department of Defense is working on the JNLWP program, the main goal of which is to create a laser system with unlimited potential that simulates sounds and flashes of light.
Most of the US military projects involving lasers involve their use as sighting systems for weapons or even point-effect weapons themselves. But now the Pentagon is experimenting with lasers for very different purposes: engineers want to make focused beams of light mimic human speech. The result is a system that can be useful for waging psychological warfare - demoralizing, deceiving and intimidating the enemy.
The DefenseOne portal told about this strange program of the US Department of Defense. According to the article, the study relies on a phenomenon called the laser-induced plasma effect - it allows you to create a plasma sphere using just one femtolaser. This sphere becomes the medium through which the second laser - the nanolaser - passes at a special frequency. Thus, the system allows you to create various light and noise effects.
This is how it looks in practice (be careful, there are loud nasty sounds in the view):
The JNLWP (Joint Non Lethal Weapons Program), under which the research is conducted, aims to enable the operator to create specific combinations of light, heat and sound from a distance. For example, with a simple 5-inch lens, the JNLWP can create a plasma environment up to a kilometer away. Thus, an airplane flying in the air can send voice messages to people on the ground or simulate the sound of shelling (remember the nazugles from "The Lord of the Rings" who, with their screams, put the enemy to flight even on approach). Thus, the potential of this system is limited only by the human imagination.
One thing is good: to date, scientists have not been able to achieve a plausible imitation of human speech from the system. However, JNLWP experts believe that it is only a matter of time. Perhaps in the near future they will be able to literally create a very convincing scale out of thin air - and who knows, maybe this system will find its application not only in the military, but also in the entertainment industry.
Vasily Makarov