A 3 W average power CO2laser oscillating in the range of 4.3μm (10°1 to 10°O transition) is described. At the same time, the laser can emit 100 W in the sequence band 00°2 to 10°1 (10.6μm). It is based on a commercial system with continuous-wave discharge of 12 m length and a slow gas flow. It operates in the Q-switched mode at pulse repetition rates up to 15 kHz. The pulse peak power is 1 kW and the pulse duration is 200 ns. The deviation from the theoretical efficiency limit has been decreased by a factor 2.5 in our device, due to saturation of the pumping (sequence band) radiation. We predict an improvement by another factor of 5 (possible average power of 10 to 20 W), if one avoids the absorption in the discharge-free
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