Coast Guard Using Lasers in Training

CLEVELAND — The U.S. Coast Guard planned to fire lasers during drills on Lake Erie today, a scaled-down alternative to proposed operations using live ammunition that were scuttled last year amid safety and environmental concerns.

Attack boats will be equipped with sensors to detect if they’ve been hit by lasers from the Coast Guard vessels, said Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier of the 9th Coast Guard District in Cleveland.

“We’re continuing to search for alternative ways to get our people the training we believe they need,” Lanier said.

Last year the Coast Guard dropped its proposal to create 34 live ammunition training zones on the Great Lakes, including four on Lake Erie, to use for exercises. Anglers complained about safety issues, and environmental activists claimed bullets from the drills could harm wildlife by dumping 7,000 pounds of lead per year into the lakes.

The Coast Guard maintains that practice using live ammunition was important to protecting public safety, and personnel have been sent to the East Coast to train with live fire on open water, Lanier said.

The demonstrations today were to take place three to five miles off the coast of Cleveland.

Originally published by Associated Press.

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