China remodels laser AK 47 along Star Wars lines

Would you ever anticipate virtual reality to make its foray into the world of existence anytime soon? Well, even if you don’t, the future has already made its way into the realm of life that had endowed science fiction an elevated place in all of human mind and psyche. Move over close target range people, for evolving technology will enable you to rechristen shooting techniques in a way that you would only have regarded conceivable in the simulated world of fantasy films.

A new ‘rifle’ from China serves to do exactly the kind of stuff you view in the epic space opera arena, with utilisation of laser beam to target objects about a kilometer away and simply blow it up in flames!

That sounds like a scene straight out of your favorite Star Wars movies, doesn’t it? While light sabers had been doing that all along in their ‘capacity’ as a sword characterised by a powerful beam of light making up the blade to thrust into subjects for that touch of gore in the speculative fiction genre, blasters are a rather unprioritised option. For the simple reason that blasters with their ‘concentration’ resting on firing ‘energy’ to blow away distant objects may be more high tech, and therefore less convincing.

But it seems that it’s indeed the blasters that are making way into your day to day life. Well, not really. Given that you don’t go about randomly firing shots at people. No, you don’t yet have that kinda freedom that will let your life be governed by all those rules that shape up the imagination in fictional world. But even then, what is somewhat unbelievable is that blasters have indeed seen the light of the day!

The ‘non lethal’ ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle produces an energy beam that cannot be seen by the naked eye but can pass through windows and cause the “instant carbonisation” of human skin and tissues. And wait, if the person’s clothes happen to be flammable, then bad luck guys. The whole person will be set on fire. So will ‘non lethal’ still hold? You know that better.

The invention is somewhat ironic, given that most Star Wars films have bombed at the Chinese box office, and to think that the country will take ‘inspiration’ from among its lowest grossers is kinda futuristic maybe?

The prototype developed at the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi province will be a 15mm calibre weapon weighing three kilos (6.6lb), about the same as an AK-47, and has a range of 800 metres, or half a mile, and could be mounted on cars, boats and planes.

Fiction seems all set to be China’s way of life with the weapon ready for mass production, the first units of which are likely to be given to anti-terrorism squads in the Chinese Armed Police, with the added advantage, or disadvantage, of not knowing where the attack came from.