--- title: "China reportedly wants to slap laser cannons on its fighter jets" description: "The Chinese military is exploring a potential laser weapon system to mount on various aircraft to give them an extra edge in a dogfight" date: "2020-01-09" modified: "2020-01-09" authors: - name: "Jared Keller" job_title: "Former Managing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/china-airborne-laser-weapons/" categories: - "Aircraft" - "Around the World" - "China" - "Fighter Aircraft" - "News" - "Tech & Tactics" - "Weapons" tags: - "indo-pacific command" --- # China reportedly wants to slap laser cannons on its fighter jets ![]() The Chinese military is exploring a potential laser weapon system to mount on various aircraft to give them an extra edge in a dogfight, [according]() to a pair of recent procurement notices. The notices, posted to the official weapons procurement website of the People's Liberation Army and first [described]() by the South China Morning Post, detail a need for information regarding potential procurement plans for an "airborne laser attack pod" or "laser attack platform." While the information in each notice is reportedly marked confidential, the government-owned Global Times [suggests]() that such airborne laser platforms could be utilized to either intercept incoming missiles or potentially down enemy aircraft "in a dogfight." [According]() to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese military is already hard at work on a prototype airborne laser weapon, although it's unclear whether the technology required to fully weaponize a laser system is fully mature yet. It's worth noting that the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation [told]() Global Times that its ground-based LW-30 laser defense weapon system, first unveiled to the public in 2018, could successfully defend aircraft against airborne munitions. Naturally, the PLA isn't the only military thinking about employing laser weapons for aerial combat. In January 2019, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Review [presented]() the idea of employing drone-based lasers for missile defense missions, as Defense One [reported]() at the time. In April, the Air Force Research Laboratory [stated]() that its Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHIELD) —which [successfully shot down]() "multiple air-launched missiles in flight" during a test at the White Sands Test Range in New Mexico at the time — could easily be [reduced]() to a small pod for testing on an F-15 by 2021. While ruggedizing and incorporating any directed-energy system into a moving aircraft presents a host of engineering challenges, who knows: perhaps, during the dogfights of the future, [aviators who are too close for missiles will find themselves switching to lasers instead of guns](). ## Author Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]() [LinkedIn]() [Instagram]() ## More - [US Navy to China: ‘You don’t want to play laser tag with us’]() - [The Air Force is officially hunting for its first new fighter jet in decades]() - [The Pentagon wants a buttload of guided rockets to slap Russia and China from hundreds of miles away]() - [The Air Force is about to slap a frickin’ laser beam on its deadliest gunship]() - [China Claims This ‘Laser AK-47’ Can Set You On Fire. That’s Probably Bullsh\*t]() - [Air Force wants to use lasers to help protect rescue helicopters after Iran mission]() - [The Navy wants to slap a laser on a littoral combat ship for the first time]() - [The Air Force Is Preparing To Test A Laser Cannon On Its ‘Ultimate Battle Plane’]()