Laser weapon

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.

The US Navy is helping to eliminate the need for a human operator to counter drone swarm attacks. An effort led by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) used AI to make laser weapons better able to target and destroy multiple drone attacks.

Drones have another weapon in the arsenal thanks to "Crazy Li" Xiao: lasers. Not just lasers, but ones powerful enough to vaporize human tissue on contact and cut through metal.

For the first time, British Army regular troops have operated a high-powered laser weapon mounted on an armored combat vehicle. Soldiers from 16 Royal Artillery in Wales used a laser installed on a Wolfhound combat vehicle to engage aerial targets.

In another step toward practical battlefield energy weapons, the UK has for the first time tested a laser weapon mounted on a British Army Wolfhound armored vehicle as part of the Land Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) Demonstrator program.

The Australian Department of Defence has demonstrated what is not only the country's first laser weapon, but what is billed as the world’s most powerful portable high-energy laser, capable of taking down drones with ground-breaking precision.

A new directed energy weapon is being rolled out to bolster British defense capabilities. And, at 13 cents a shot, it's just as effective, but a lot cheaper than the multi-million dollar missiles it's designed to replace.

In a newly declassified video, the $127 million DragonFire high-power laser weapon can be seen spectacularly blasting through mortar rounds and shooting down drones. It's the best look we've had yet of the top-secret battlefield game-changer.

Britain has fired its Dragonfire high-powered laser weapon at aerial targets for the first time. The test of the Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) on the Ministry of Defence's Hebrides Range was designed to demonstrate its power and accuracy.

Laser weapons have begun to spread throughout NATO, as the German Navy has completed a year-long trial under realistic sea conditions of a 20-kW MBDA Deutschland/Rheinmetall Laser Weapon Demonstrator. It was installed aboard the frigate Sachsen.

In another step from the workbench to the battlefield, Raytheon UK is integrating its first high-energy 15-kW laser weapon into a Wolfhound armored vehicle for the British Army as part of the Ministry of Defence's Land Demonstrator laser program.

Northrop Grumman has delivered a miniaturized high-energy laser, called the Phantom, to the US government that points to future laser weapons that are not only powerful, but small and rugged enough for field combat.