Cold War Weapons | Lasers: Episode 1

We continue our Cold War Weapons series. The new episode is dedicated to lasers. In the 1960s, a super-secret competition began – the fight to create a laser. At that time only a small circle of specialists knew about the super-weapon that could alter the world's entire security system.

In the 1970s, the US launched its Excalibur project. The idea was to capture the nuclear bomb’s energy and collect it into a huge beam. It could be more destructive than nuclear bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The USSR was hard at work on the Skif project to answer possible US attack. Scientists were developing an orbital laser-combat platform that was supposed to destroy enemy satellites, seagoing vessels or ground targets with laser weapons.

Watch the new episode of Cold War Weapons to find out more about super-secret laser weapons!