Object Details
- Hughes Aircraft Company
- Description
- A beam-type weapon, long familiar to science fiction fans, became a reality after the invention of lasers. That reality differed from fictional “ray guns” however. Rather than destroy a target directly, a solder used this battery-operated, portable laser to illuminate a selected target. A missile or other munition equipped with a special sensor detected the reflected light then homed-in on, and destroyed, the target.
- This model AN/PAQ-1 laser target designator was developed at Hughes Aircraft Company following Theodore Maiman's creation of the first successful laser in May 1960. Before donating the laser to the museum in 1987, the U.S. Army removed a classified component so the laser will no longer function.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- from Hughes Aircraft Company
- ca 1984
- ID Number
- 1987.0026.01
- accession number
- 1987.0026
- catalog number
- 1987.0026.01
- model number
- AN/PAQ-1
- Object Name
- Laser, military
- laser
- Other Terms
- Laser, military; Lasers and Masers
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- cloth (strap material)
- plastic (part material)
- glass (part material)
- rubber (part material)
- Measurements
- overall: 10 cm x 59 cm x 36 cm; 3 15/16 in x 23 1/4 in x 14 3/16 in
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Military
- Energy & Power
- Lasers
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Laser
- Record ID
- nmah_714274
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-623e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
