Hate to break it to you, but warfare’s about to go all Black Mirror. You see, nations aren’t just stockpiling missiles anymore – they’re instead investing in invisible beams, terrifying mind machines and guns that scream.
So, forget about boots on the ground. These are the strangest, scariest, and most sci-fi weapons already making their way to the battlefield.
The battleship-mounted laser
Laser blasts have been a feature of on-screen sci-fi battles for decades. Now they’re exploding into the real-world theatres of war, with the British Navy set to install laser weapons on four of its warships by 2027.
The DragonFire laser system can reportedly strike a £1 coin from a distance of 1km (a quarter – the 25-cent coin – from 0.6 miles) and is able to take down drones 5km (3.1 miles) away.
It works by generating a high-power laser beam, created by multiple fibre-optic glass cables, which combine to create a single powerful beam that could burn through a target, fry an incoming missile’s guidance systems or detonate an explosive being carried.
And it’s not just accurate and deadly, it’s cheap too.
“If you’re thinking you’re going to be attacked by cheap precision weapons – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), things like that – there will be a contest: can they throw more of those at you than you have ammunition to stop them?” says Dr Jack McDonald, director of the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London.
“[With a laser weapon] they can’t just overwhelm your ammunition supplies.”
Each shot with DragonFire costs less than £10 (approx. $13), and it’s essentially renewable, McDonald says. “The key thing is it’s using energy instead of ammunition."
DragonFire and other laser systems like it are designed as short-range defensive weapons. Russia, for example, is developing a handheld laser rifle that soldiers can use to defend themselves against drones.
There are also offensive capabilities with lasers, says Dr Sidharth Kaushal, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence and security think tank.
“An example one might think of is the way in which the Chinese used directed energy weapons against American pilots who were overflying their base in Djibouti (East Africa). It won’t necessarily kill a pilot, but it’ll essentially dazzle them. In a worst-case scenario, it could potentially blind someone.”
The anti-drone microwave
Directed energy weaponry is one of the most active areas of defence design right now, and it doesn’t stop at lasers.
High-power microwave (HPM) weapons are in development to counter the increasing threat of drones, particularly large swarms of networked drones that work in unison.
HPM weapons have longer wavelengths than lasers and can take down multiple targets at once. It uses a continuously firing beam that’s 150,000 times more powerful than the microwave you use to heat up your soup.
“Essentially it’s using radio frequency energy and what it’s really doing is destroying the electronics on board a system,” says Kaushal.
In 2023, the US military demonstrated the Tactical High-Power Operational Responder – THOR to its friends, and maybe its enemies too.
The truck-mounted device swivels on a gimbal – a pivot that allows objects to rotate easily – and directs a wide beam of microwave energy to disable incoming drones. In the 2023 demo, multiple drones dropped from the sky.
An alternative technology is a radio wave weapon. In 2024, British soldiers demonstrated a new weapon that used radio frequency to disable incoming drones. The system can target drones at a distance of 1km (0.6 miles) and each shot costs just 10p (approx. 13 cents).
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The artificially intelligent sentinel
Autonomous and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered weapons bring to mind the hit movie Terminator and its T-1000 murderbots that rise up against humankind.
It all sounds silly and sci-fi until you find out that AI weapons systems are already being deployed, and that some experts have concerns about their development.
“The main risk of autonomous weapons systems is the potential loss of human control and limitless engagement of targets, including civilians,” says Dr Lukasz Olejnik, an independent researcher and visiting research fellow at King’s College London.
“That’s a no-go territory that would violate Geneva Conventions. The main principles of such technology should uphold the principles of distinction, proportionality and meaningful human control.
“There’s a risk that a fully autonomous system ‘let loose’ could result in disasters, like misidentification of targets, applying too much force or limitless lethality.”
Some forms of autonomous weapons have been in use for decades, such as the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), used to defend British military ships from targets that the system itself identifies.
Now, AI is being integrated into battle strategy, surveillance and more. Multiple air forces around the world are developing AI wingman-style UAVs, which fly alongside crewed fighter jets (see below).
There are also AI targeting systems, like the Bullfrog Gun Turret, an autonomous machine gun station. It uses AI to target, track and eliminate targets with greater accuracy against drones than human marksmen.
As with a number of AI weapon systems, it also has the option for a human-in-the-loop function.
“This means the ultimate decision about engagement is in the hands of a human operator,” Olejnik says. “Manufacturers, users or strategists may worry though whether all sides of the conflict would abide by such rules.”
The mystery sonic beam weapon
In 2016, dozens of US officials based in Havana, Cuba, reported strange symptoms like nausea, dizziness and debilitating cognitive symptoms.
Officials in other locations around the world have since reported similar effects, which begin suddenly, sometimes coupled with the sound of a loud noise.
One potential explanation for what has since become known as ‘Havana Syndrome’ is some kind of sonic weapon, used by America’s adversaries. High-power sound waves can cause pain or discomfort and destroy a person’s eardrums.
Other frequencies can cause discomfort, but attempts to replicate these in laboratory settings have shown inconclusive results.
Nevertheless, sonic weapons do exist. Sound cannons or long-range acoustic devices have been used to disperse protestors, deter migrants from crossing borders and defend against pirates and suicide bombers.
In most cases, however, these are large devices mounted on the back of trucks. It’s not clear how the technology could have targeted US officials covertly – or whether it did at all.
“To be honest, I’m not 100 per cent sure that Havana Syndrome exists, or rather that it can be explained by hostile state activity,” says Kaushal.
Studies on some Havana Syndrome patients have discussed other potential causes of the reported sickness, from microwave pulses to the sounds of insects.
Another leading theory is that Havana Syndrome was a nocebo effect, which occurs when a negative perception of bad health leads to actual poor health.
Or it could have been a mass psychogenic illness, where fears of an attack of some kind lead to a hyperawareness of symptoms.
“There’s so much contradictory evidence around it that actually I’m not terribly convinced,” Kaushal says.
The hypersonic railgun
Electromagnetic artillery looks set to become a deadly fixture of 21st-Century warfare, with multiple military forces exploring the technology.
Railguns have two parallel rails that launch a projectile when electromagnetic force is created. The rapidly expanding magnetic field can launch the munition at velocities way above the speed of sound.
There’s no need for an explosive. The kinetic energy does all the damage.
“You also get an advantage in terms of range,” says Kaushal. “Because of the sheer amount of kinetic energy, it flies over considerably longer distances than a traditional gun, particularly a naval gun, would be able to provide.”
Electromagnetic railguns can also reduce the cost per shot, especially for a country’s navy. The individual shells of these railguns don’t require explosives, making them cheaper and safer to store on board warships.
“The other reason they’re looked at with some interest is the idea that they could bring naval gunfire back into the mix,” Kaushal says. “Right now, with the ranges you can get off most naval guns, you basically couldn’t use them in all but the most permissive circumstances.”
He points to engagements off the coast of Libya in 2011, when the Royal Navy used naval gunfire. “That was because there was no Libyan coastal defence system to speak of. Fast forward to today and even the [poorest terrorist groups] have anti-ship cruise missiles.”
Most ships wouldn’t expose themselves to that threat, but electromagnetic railguns would enable them to fire on coastal targets, safely out of range of the counter threat.
Military powers have pursued railgun technology for decades, but the immense power required has seen many projects stall, including in the US. China is still developing this technology, as is Europe.
In 2023, a feasibility study by the European Defence Agency reported findings for a future railgun which can fire a projectile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 6 – ten times faster than most aeroplanes. The agency hopes to test on a firing range by 2028.
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The crowd-control gun
Directed energy weapons aren’t only being developed to target drones and incoming missiles. They can also be fired at people, to lethal and non-lethal effect.
“At lower levels of power, you can do things like create an intense sense of discomfort without necessarily causing lasting physical damage,” says Kaushal.
“There’s some suggestions that it might be usable as a means of crowd control, although whether that’s considered acceptable in many societies is an open question.”
Even so, multiple examples of low-power laser technology have been developed, designed for crowd or border control or repelling an enemy advance.
One example that goes back more than 20 years is the Active Denial System, a microwave-style heat ray developed by the US military.
It creates a beam that heats fat cells and water in a target’s skin. It’s never been used in active service, but a small number of people received second-degree burns in field tests.
Another technology is the Scalable Compact Ultra-Short Pulse Laser System.
This US military weapon delivers multiple actions, including flash-bang style acoustic and blinding effects, as well as being able to burn through clothing and skin. At one setting, it can even deliver voice commands at a distance of 1,000m (3,280ft).
The orbital bombardment system
The next battlefront for 21st-Century warfare looks set to unfold way above our heads. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits the stationing of weapons of mass destruction in space, but other forms of orbital warfare are not explicitly banned.
A number of weapons systems have been proposed and some have even been tested, with military forces – particularly the US, Russia and China – actively developing technologies.
Some of these include anti-satellite weapons. A Russian satellite was observed testing a projectile fired at another satellite in 2021, while Chinese satellites have ‘dragged’ others into so-called graveyard orbits.
These technologies could, in theory, be used to take out enemy communications or orbital reconnaissance efforts.
More exotic and deadly would be a form of orbital bombardment. It’s a concept that dates back to the Cold War, when the ‘rods from God’ idea was first floated.
“Tungsten rods would essentially drop from orbit to destroy a target with kinetic energy,” Kaushal says. “The question is whether that becomes a feature of discussions once again.”
“My guess is probably not because the concept was always a bit speculative, but I think what’s more likely is things like fractional orbital bombardment systems.”
FOBS, as they’re known, are a means of deploying missiles at Earth-based targets using an orbital trajectory.
A missile would leave Earth’s atmosphere, then skip across it like a pebble skimming the surface of a lake. It would then re-enter the atmosphere, potentially increasing the range of ballistic missiles.
“Historically that was a pretty inaccurate system,” Kaushal says. “However, when you combine fractional orbital bombardment systems with new hypersonic glide vehicles, which upon re-entry can manoeuvre very accurately towards their target, that becomes a very important first strike capability.”
The US Space Force claimed that a Chinese weapons test in 2021 used FOBS technology. Russia and the US are also thought to be developing the technology.
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The next-gen uncrewed fighter jet
Could Top Gun-style fighter pilots become a thing of the past, the paperboys and lamplighters of the armed services? It’s not an outrageous suggestion if the latest uncrewed aircraft designs are anything to go by.
In March 2025, the US Air Force revealed its first completely unmanned fighter jets, the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A.
These aircraft will be capable of autonomous flight and solo missions, with the 44A capable of travelling at 15,200m at speeds of 1,046km/h (50,000ft at 650 miles per hour).
In reality, though, these fighter drones won’t fly alone, or be piloted by some all-powerful AI-in-the-sky (at least not yet).
Instead, they’ll deploy alongside crewed aircraft as so-called collaborative combat aircraft or Loyal Wingmen.
The same is true of other unmanned fighter planes such as China’s AVIC Dark Sword and Australia’s MQ28 Ghost Bat.
With unmanned reconnaissance and spy planes already in the skies, and swarm drones in development, most experts agree this marks a new era of cloud-based warfare.
And human pilots have already gone up against AI enemies. In 2023, a pair of F-16 jets took part in a simulated dogfight over California. One was piloted by a human, the other by AI.
The US military declined to say which was victorious, although in 2020 five similar battles took place in a flight simulator. In that test, the AI won all five.
The neurostrike weapon
File this one under ‘classified’ or ‘nonsense’ depending on your level of scepticism, but some reports claim that China is developing an arsenal of cognitive warfare weapons that can induce sleep, impair alertness and influence the decision-making or emotional state of enemy personnel.
A research group called CCP BioThreats Initiative, manned by former intelligence and military experts in the US, has published several reports on this supposed technology since 2023. Among its claims are sonic weapons that interfere with a target’s neurobiology.
There’s little in the way of hard evidence for such claims, although they echo reports from the 1990s that Russia was developing so-called ‘psychotronic’ weapons (including drugs and directed energy) that could target a person’s willpower or consciousness.
There’s also a rich history – mixing conspiracy theories and real reports – of mind control experiments in the US.
An oft-cited example is MKUltra, a CIA program that ran from the 1950s to the 1970s with human experimentation on brainwashing and psychological torture.
“I guess the only thing I can say about that is I’ve never read anything that would confirm that [psychotronic weapons] are possible,” McDonald says.
The human brain could be used in a different way on the battlefield, however. A 2019 report by the US Army speculates about cyborg soldiers, who could be deployed by 2050.
These next-gen grunts could have access to brain-computer interfaces that let them control weapons with their thoughts, or optogenetic technology – controlling brain cells using light and genetic engineering – that suppresses anxiety in the brain.
About our experts
Dr Jack McDonald is the director of the Centre for Science and Security Studies and senior lecturer of war studies at King's College London, in the UK. He has authored two books: Enemies Known and Unknown: Targeted Killings in America's Transnational War and Ethics, Law and Justifying Targeted Killings: The Obama Administration at War.
Dr Sidharth Kaushal is senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, where he focuses on seapower. He is published in The RUSI Journal, War on the Rocks and the US Naval Institute.
Dr Lukasz Olejnik is an independent researcher of cybersecurity and privacy, and is a visiting research fellow at King’s College London, in the UK. He is the author of books Philosophy of Cybersecurity and Propaganga.
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