Abstract: The apparatus for guiding a missile generates an electromagnetic guide beam such as a CO.sub.2 -laser guide beam including spatial coding. For spatially encoding the guide beam there is employed a modulator as well as a scanning device which are intercoupled by means of a computer. The guide beam is moved in steps or increments by the scanning device in order to scan individual field sectors of a scanning field. Following each individual step, a code is transferred to or associated with a scanned field sector of the scanning field by the guide beam such that for each field sector of the scanning field a code is generated which indicates the actual position of the missile, and a code which indicates the desired position of the missile. Consequently, a number of missiles can be guided simultaneously in different field sectors.

Abstract: A laser containing a laser resonator possessing a laser rod and an electro-optical modulation device between two mirrors. The modulation device comprises a polarization element and a component embodying an electro-optical crystal at the opposite faces of which there are arranged electrodes. Both faces of the crystal and a polarization prism of the polarization element possess a degree of planeness less than one-tenth of the wavelength of the laser light and with respect to one another a plane-parallelism of less than five arc seconds for increasing the stored energy in the laser resonator and the power output.