Watch: High-energy laser takes down drone in world-first combat engagement

The age of laser weapons looks to have officially dawned. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems says that, for the first time in history, a high-energy laser system has been used to destroy multiple drone targets in combat.

Though we tend to think of laser weapons as something that is still futuristic, lasers and laser weapons have been around for a long time. In fact, scientists and engineers were studying military applications for lasers almost as soon as the first laser was invented in 1960. By the end of the Vietnam War, lasers were being used as rangefinders and for illuminating targets for bombs and missiles to home in on.

Even the use of laser weapons in combat isn't entirely new. The first laser weapons were deployed by the Royal Navy during the Falklands War in 1982, though these were what is known as dazzler lasers. Their purpose wasn't to destroy things. Instead, their function was to momentarily dazzle or distract enemy pilots, spoiling their missile and bomb runs.

What's different today is that the Israeli defense forces used a high-energy laser capable of locking onto and destroying a drone by, in at least one instance, burning off the wings. This marks the first time such a high-energy laser has ever been used on the battlefield.

When and where the engagement took place is unclear. Since it was part of Israel's Swords of Iron operation it was mostly likely on the border with Gaza and Egypt. Nor is much known about the weapon itself. Israel is in the process of deploying its Iron Beam laser for the Israeli Air Force's Aerial Defence Array, though the one reported on might be some earlier variant.

If it is Iron Beam, then it is a 100-kW system with a range of 6.2 miles (10 km).

Source: Rafael