The Beijing Air Quality Index, at 10:00 p.m. February 24 local time, is 402 (hazardous). Via the South China Morning Post: Smog is China’s top defence against US laser weapons, says PLA Navy admiral. Excerpt:
China’s thick smog is the best defence against US laser weaponry, a People’s Liberation Army Navy admiral has said in a state television interview, after the American navy recently announced it was preparing to deploy its first laser weapon aboard a transport ship.
PLA Navy Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a military expert at the National Defence University, said on CCTV’s Haixia Liang’an (Cross-Straits) current affairs programme late last week that the lasers were “most afraid of smog”.
“Under conditions where there is no smog, a laser weapon can fire [at a range of] 10 kilometres. When there’s smog, it’s only one kilometre. What’s the point of making this kind of weapon?” he said.
Echoing previous claims by state media that China’s crippling air pollution has an upside when it comes to military defence, Zhang explained that smog was made up of tiny metallic particulates – and the higher their PM number (a measurement of the particles’ diameter in micrometres), the harder it would be for lasers to penetrate.
The Associated Press reported last week that the US Navy planned to deploy its first laser weapon aboard the USS Ponce, a nearly 17,000-tonne transport dock which will be stationed in the Middle East.
The laser weapon is designed to fire invisible beams of infrared energy that can burn through drones and smaller boats that could threaten US forces in the Persian Gulf, the report added.
Zhang’s assessment immediately drew criticism on the popular social media site Sina Weibo, where the news was reposted and commented on more than 10,000 times.
In response, the rear admiral told the Beijing Youth Daily that his statements were taken out of context, and urged his detractors to watch the entire interview before passing judgment. Zhang noted that he talked about laser weapons on the show for 12 minutes, but the interview was edited into a two-minute clip, featuring the soundbites that led to some “misunderstanding”.
“I just stated a laser weapon’s weakness,” Zhang said. “I don’t support smog.”
