Lasers Could Find Friend or Foe Submarines Underwater

Submarines such as the Ohio-class fleet ballistic missile submarine USS Alaska cannot communicate with the surface while deep underwater. Credit: U.S. Navy/Kimberly Clifford

From Live Science:

Flashy lasers should not make any sound in space, despite what "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" would have people believe. But lasers aimed underwater can and do create small supersonic explosions.

It's not just a light show. Naval researchers hope to use lasers for sonar detection, or even submarine-to-aircraft communication.

"The lasers we're using in experiments now are pretty compact," said Ted Jones, a physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. "They're smaller than desk-sized and could fly on an aircraft."

Radios or other devices that rely on the electromagnetic spectrum don't work underwater, because water does not transmit such waves well. That means submarines cannot communicate from beneath the waves — they have to surface if they want to communicate with home base, planes or other naval ships.

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My Comment: The technology behind this is so cool .... I am surprised that it is getting published.