Suspected Use of the ZM-87 Russian Portable Laser Used Against US troops

On board the aircraft were U.S. Navy Lt. Jack Daly and Canadian Armed Forces pilot Capt. Patrick Barnes. Lt. Daly was the Navy's foreign-intelligence liaison officer in Esquimalt, British Columbia, heading a joint U.S.-Canadian helicopter-surveillance operation against Russian, Chinese, and other spy ships operating in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates British Columbia from Washington state, and in Puget Sound, the site of major U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine and aircraft carrier bases.

While taking photographs of the ship and more specifically the bridge, Lt. Daly suddenly experienced intense pain in his right eye as well as temporary blindness. Daly suffered direct laser burns to his right eye, as well as other vision problems and severe headaches. Captain Barnes was also injured and was permanently grounded as a result of this incident. He has since lost all his flight qualifications.

Tests showed the men were most likely hit with a Nd:YAG laser, according to a USMRD (United States Army Medical Research Department) analysis. Shortly after the incident, Coast Guard teams were given two hours to search the vessel but did not locate a laser. Teams were not given full access to the ship, however, and the Clinton administration had warned the Russian government in advance the ship would be searched.

Lt. Daly and his peers are adamant to this day that a cover-up has been orchestrated by the State Department to avoid hindering negotiations.

The ZM-87 Portable Laser Disturber has been suspected of being the weapon used.

ZM-87

The ZM-87 Portable Laser Disturber is a electro-optic countermeasure laser device. It was banned by the 1995 United Nations Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons and is thought to no longer be in production. Roughly 22 were made up to year 2000.

It was made by Norinco.

It is primarily intended to blind humans; it is also reported to damage the photo-electric elements in laser rangefinders and videocameras and missiles' seekers.

* Power output: 15 mW, 5 pulses per second, at two wavelengths.

* Maximum range (blinding): 2 to 3 km = 1.2 to 1.9 miles (5 km if a x7 magnifying optic is used)

* Maximum range (temporary blinding): 10 km = 6.2 miles

* Weight (without battery): 35 kg = 77 pounds

A battery supplies a portable electric energy converter which through a cable feeds a beam emitter 84-centimeter (= 33 inches) long mounted on a tripod. It has a gunsight. It resembles a heavy machine gun.

Timetable

* late 1980's: development began

* May 1995: ZM-87 publicly revealed a defense exhibition in the Philippines

* Soon after: displayed at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi and thus got big publicity

* Oct 1995: Blinding laser weapons banned in CCWC Protocol IV

* Apr 1997: Strait of Juan de Fuca laser incident: A US Navy officer sustained a retinal injury consistent with exposure to this sort of laser fired from the Russian freighter Kapitan Man

* Dec 2000: Known production apparently ended