After years of development and successful live fire testsearlier this year, the US Navy is preparing to launch its first laser weapons system into active duty.

Called the Navy’s Laser Weapon System (LaWS), the direct energy weapon was developed by the Navy Research Lab, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NSSC) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center to be a low cost method of defending against drones, small boats and missiles within a 1-mile radius.

Unlike larger laser systems that have the power to vaporize targets, the LaWS system will be used to blur the vision of UAVs and missiles and throw them off a ship’s tracks. Although primarily a countermeasure, the LaWS does pack enough of a punch to do some real damage to small boats and drones, igniting outboard fuel reserves and, in one demonstration, setting a stealth drone’s airframe alight.

In an interview with the Department of Defense’s blog (yup, that’s a thing), Navy Captain and NSSC direct energy weapons project manager Mike Ziv noted that, while the LaWS is being deployed aboard a ship, the system is still in its infancy.

“What we really want to achieve is to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this system is ready to be operated in theatre, operated by our sailors, and ready to transition to be in broader use throughout the fleets. And I think we’re on track to get that done.”

With its first patrols scheduled for the summer of 2014 aboard the newly revamped USS Ponce, the LaWS system represents the US Navy’s first attempt at fielding a high-energy laser weapon. In the future, ships with greater electrical capacity will likely be home to even more powerful direct energy weapons, possibly even those capable of downing planes, missiles and even satellites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px87SP01eKw#t=83

Image Courtesy of the US Navy

After 3 days of fruitless search for the missing plane, the deception now moves to a wider area. A world wide search would indeed keep the world distracted for a few more years while we "bomb and annex" one nation, one by one. Sorry folks. Keep watching the "Tell-Us-Lies-Vision" sets.

The U.S. has said it is making moves to launch a search in the Indian Ocean in response to 'new information' about the missing Malaysia Airlines plane which vanished six days ago.

A White House spokesman confirmed that authorities were considering the new avenue of exploration, as a Pentagon official revealed that a destroyer from the U.S. Navy had been dispatched for the search.

The plans, a development from previous searches in the South China Sea, were beginning to be put in place as a picture emerged of the doomed jet in the sky just a month ago.

Doomed: This picture emerged today of the plane which would later go missing while flying between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing

Radius: U.S. officials believe the missing plane could have come down in the Indian Ocean (left), rather than the South China Sea (right), while speculation that the plane could have kept flying for four hours after losing contact were described as 'inaccurate'

U.S destroyer USS Kidd is now reportedly being moved to the Indian Ocean in order to search the area (file picture)

An Indonesian Air Force officer draws a flight pattern flown earlier in a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, during a post-mission briefing at Suwondo air base in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Adding to the confusion around the fate of the jet, a source involved in the investigation today revealed that flight MH370, which was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 on board, sent a brief signal, or 'ping', to satellites in space after it had lost contact with ground control.

This suggests that the plane was still in operation later expected.

This evening a White House spokesperson conceded the possibility of a new search, saying 'new information' prompted the move. He did not make clear what the information was.

'It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive - but new information - an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean,'White House spokesman Jay Carney said. 'And we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy.'

'We're looking at information, pursuing possible leads, working within the investigation being led by the Malaysian government,' Carney added.

Responding to the new theory that the Malaysian Airlines flight may have come down in the Indian Ocean, rather than the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy has allegedly sent its own resources there.

U.S destroyer USS Kidd is now reportedly being moved in to search the area, while Malaysia was due to ask for radar data from India and other neighbouring countries to see if they can trace the plane flying north west.

Today the last picture of the plane also emerged, flying over Polish airspace on February 5 this year. The plane's serial number - 9M-MRO - matches that of the missing MH370 service, though it is not clear which route the plane was flying.

The developments come as Malaysian authorities attempted to downplay the theories springing up around the fate of the aircraft.

The 'ping' is not thought to have contained any information about the condition or trajectory of the plane, but merely to confirm that the aircraft existed and that it was possible to contact it.

The system transmits such pings about once an hour, sources said, but it remains unclear how many signals the plane sent after air traffic control lost track of it.

Boeing Co, which made the missing 777 airliner, and Rolls-Royce, which supplied its Trent engines, declined to comment.

Earlier Malaysian officials denied reports that the aircraft had continued to send technical data after losing contact.

Meanwhile Malaysian authorities expanded their search westward towards India today, and a senior Pentagon official suggested there was 'an indication' the plane came down in the Indian ocean.

India has also involved itself in the search, and plans to imminently deploy planes and ships in the southern section of the sea, a senior Indian official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The senior Pentagon official reportedly told ABC News it would take 24 hours for USS Kidd to be moved into position.

Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein (centre) said the search had been expanded westward today, while a senior Pentagon official has been quoted as saying there was 'an indication' the plane came down in the Indian Ocean

Six days on and a massive international air and water search involving 10 nations using 56 surface ships has failed to find a single piece of debris or sign of the Malaysian Airlines aircraft

Earlier, Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein described reports suggesting the jetliner kept flying for four hours after it vanished as 'inaccurate' and said satellite images showing suspected debris of the crash had been released by China 'by mistake'.

The plane left Kuala Lumpur and was flying northeast across the Gulf of Thailand and into the South China Sea when it dropped off civilian radar without any indication it was having any technical problems.

An international search effort has been methodically sweeping parts of the South China Sea. A roughly similar-sized hunt has also been conducted to the west in the Strait of Malacca because of military radar sightings that might indicate the plane headed that way after its last contact, passing over the Malay Peninsula.

The total area is around 35,800 square miles, or about the size of Portugal.

The developments come as people gathered in Kuala Lumpur airport, from which flight MH370 took off, to offer up prayers for the 239 people missing as a result of the disaster.

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers could today be seen bowing in unison in the ceremony, offering their thoughts to the passengers who are missing as a result of the flight's disappearance, and their worry-stricken relatives.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper quoted U.S. investigators on Thursday as saying they suspected the plane remained in the air for about four hours after its last confirmed contact, citing data from the plane's engines that are automatically transmitted to the ground as part of a routine maintenance program.

Scale: Hundreds of Muslim men bow down to offer prayers for the passengers of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370

Respectful: Muslim joined the men and shared in their grief at the 239 missing people

Boys join in prayers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370

Prayers for passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane are carried out at the departure hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Pilots of a Royal Malaysian Air Force CN-235 aircraft manage their plane during a search and rescue operation

A crew member of a Royal Malaysian Air Force CN-235 aircraft looks out of the window during the search and rescue operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane

A crew member of a Royal Malaysian Air Force CN-235 aircraft rests after long hours working in a search and rescue operation for the missing plane

Hishammuddin said the government had contacted Boeing and Rolls Royce, the engine manufacturer, and both said the last engine data was received at 1:07 a.m., around 23 minutes before the plane's transponders, which identify it to commercial radar and nearby planes, stopped working.

But asked if it were possible that the plane kept flying for several hours, Hishammuddin said: 'Of course, we can't rule anything out. This is why we have extended the search. We are expanding our search into the Andaman Sea.' The sea, part of the Indian Ocean, is northwest of the Malay Peninsula.

More than two-thirds of those on board the plane were from China, which has shown impatience with the absence of any results.

Hishammuddin said satellite images of three pieces of large debris floating near to the jet's last recorded position in the South China Sea had been released by China 'by mistake'. He said searches were conducted of the area but nothing was found.

Responding to reports of a U.S safety directive that ordered additional inspections for cracking and corrosion on certain 777 planes, Hishammuddin insisted all maintenance checks on the plane 'were in order'

Part of the search area is seen on an iPad of a military officer onboard a Vietnam Air Force AN-26 aircraft

A crew member of a Royal Malaysian Air Force CN-235 aircraft looks out of the window during a search and rescue operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane over the Straits of Malacca

Indonesian Air Force officers examine the projection of a map that shows their operation area over the Strait of Malacca during a briefing following a search mission

The defence minister confirmed the aircraft had been 'fully serviced' and all maintenance checks 'were in order', following reports of a safety directive by the U.S Federal Aviation Administration about a potential problem with cracking and corrosion in the fuselage.

Hishammuddin also continued to defend Malaysia's response to the incident.

He said: 'We have spared no expense and no effort - from day one we have been in regular contact with our neighbouring countries and accepted all international offers of help.'

He said Malaysia would not normally share military radar data with other countries, but in this case the search effort had been placed 'above our national security'.

He said: 'We have shared our data with our international partners including the U.S. and China to help with the search efforts.'

Six days on and a massive international air and water search involving 10 nations using 56 surface ships has failed to find a single piece of debris or sign of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft.