Portable lasers and laser pointers have many applications ranging from avian dispersal and research to laser displays and warfare.
One of the more esoteric and less understood applications is guiding bombs and missiles.
The basic idea is a laser pointer will paint or illuminate a target with a laser beam and a laser detector or sensor in the bomb/missile will detect laser light reflected of the target and home on the reflected light.
The sensor will detect the strongest source of laser light and steer the weapon to that source using course corrections with its control surfaces (non powered weapons such as free fall bombs) or with motor (rockets).
The advantage of laser guided weapons is that they can strike a target with extreme precision and reduce or eliminate civilian deaths and property damage (collateral damage is the phrase commonly used by the military and politicians).
Laser guided weapons are smaller and contain less explosives than their non guided counterparts making them cheaper to produce and allowing aircraft and other launch platforms to carry more of them.
The key element in the use of laser guided weapons is the illumination of the target by laser light.
This is normally achieved by one of two ways.
A person on the ground near the target will use a laser pointer to illuminate the target or a laser mounted on the weapons platform, be it an aircraft or missile launcher will have a built in laser that will illuminate the target.
A classic example of the use of laser weapons is for a reconnaissance group to infiltrate enemy territory and illuminate the target.
Laser guided weapons do have disadvantages.
The weapons are only guided when they can detect the laser beam.
This means if the beam is blocked by smoke poor weather or dusty conditions, the weapons can not be guided.
This greatly limits the use of these weapons in desert wars such as the Iraqi wars.
A common misunderstanding is that a common green laser pointer can be used with these weapons and pity the poor fool who is using one of these lasers when a laser guided bomb is in the air.
The lasers use to guide these weapons are infrared (visible lasers will give the user's position away to the enemy) lasers that used a pulsed system that is coded to the sensor on the weapon.
The weapon will only home in on a laser source with a matching code.
Your trusty green laser pointer will do many things such as create laser displays, carry out research and entertain your friends.
It will even land you in jail if you misuse it BUT it will not bring laser guided weapons down on you.