Lasers could protect helicopters from harm: "A new laser technology could protect helicopters in combat from heat-seeking missiles, University of Michigan researchers say.
Using inexpensive, off-the-shelf telecommunications fiber optics, Mohammed Islam, a professor in the UM Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has developed sturdy and portable 'mid-infrared supercontinuum lasers' that could blind heat-seeking weapons from a distance of 1.8 miles, a university release said.
'Battlefield terrain in places like Afghanistan and Iraq can be so rough that our troops have often had to rely on helicopters, and they can be easy targets for enemies with shoulder-launched missiles,' Islam says.
'Our lasers give off a signal that's like throwing sand in the eyes of the missile.'"
