The Canal Defense LightDuring World War II in 1940, a Greek man named A.V.M. Mitzakis invented the C

The Canal Defense LightDuring World War II in 1940, a Greek man named A.V.M. Mitzakis invented the Canal Defense Light.  The CDL consisted of a very powerful searchlight that generated around 13 million candlepower and could illuminate objects miles away.  However, the CDL was no mere searchlight.  While it was powerful enough to certainly blind an enemy soldier caught in it’s glare, it was also made to flicker rapidly, causing a person’s pupils to dilate and contract rapidly, leading to nausea, disorientation, and temporary blindness. The idea was that thousands of these lights would be set up along the English Channel and used to blind German soldiers in boats and landing craft during a hypothetical invasion of Britain.  300 Matilda tanks were converted into CDL vehicles, the turret and gun replaced with a light projector.  The idea was that the tank would blind groups of enemy soldiers while its turret mounted machine gun would pick them off.  Later when the United States entered the war, the US Army converted 335 M3 tanks and a limited number of Sherman tanks for the CDL.  The German invasion of Britain never occurred, nor did CDL tank production begin until 1942. However the CDL tanks were issued to tank divisions serving in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany.  While the CDL tanks were found to be brutally effective in testing, on the battlefield they were rarely used correctly as tank commanders were not trained in their use and doctrine.  As a result, most CDL tanks were used as spotlights and searchlights instead. The program was scrapped at the end of the war. -- source link

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