---
title: "US Claims China Fired Laser Weapon at Navy Spy Plane"
description: "The United States Navy claims that a Chinese warship fired a laser weapon at one of its surveillance aircraft last week, prompting diplomatic action."
date: "2020-02-28"
modified: "2020-02-28"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-claims-china-fired-laser-weapon-navy-spy-plane"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "laser weapons"
  - "military"
  - "the digest"
---

# US Claims China Fired Laser Weapon at Navy Spy Plane

![The United States Navy claims that a Chinese warship fired a laser weapon at one of its surveillance aircraft last week, prompting diplomatic action.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/us-claims-china-fired-laser-weapon-navy-spy-plane.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: US Military/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Energy Warfare

The U.S. Navy claims that a Chinese warship fired a laser weapon at one of its surveillance aircraft last week.

"Weapons-grade lasers could potentially cause serious harm to aircrew and mariners, as well as ship and aircraft systems," read the Navy's statement, [according to *CNN*](<https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/politics/chinese-laser-us-aircraft/index.html>)*.*

## Razzle Dazzle

According to the Navy, the Chinese weapon was a "dazzler" laser, intended to blind sensors or human pilots — a high-powered version, effectively, of the [dangerous practice](<https://gothamist.com/news/fbi-suspects-some-long-island-moron-shooting-laser-pointer-planes-again>) of shining a laser pointer at a commercial aircraft.

The move was aggressive enough, military officials told *CNN*, that it's likely to spur a formal diplomatic protest by the U.S.

## Laser Focus

This isn't the first time the U.S. has accused China of targeting its forces with laser weapons.

In 2018, military officials [warned pilots](<https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/politics/chinese-lasers-us-military-pilots-africa/index.html>) that a Chinese airbase in Djibouti may have targeted its planes with "military-grade laser beams" — a flap that also spurred a previous diplomatic protest.

**READ MORE:** [US says Chinese warship fired military laser at US aircraft](<https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/politics/chinese-laser-us-aircraft/index.html>) \[*CNN*\]

**More on laser weapons:** [*The U.S. Military Is Buying a $130 Million Laser Weapon*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-military-laser-weapon-100-kilowatt>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)