A LASER weapon that can destroy aircraft in mid-flight has been successfully tested for the first time by the US Navy.
A stunning clip shows the moment an American battleship shoots the powerful beam and takes out an unmanned drone.
The video, from May 16, shows the high-energy laser being blasted from the USS Portland in the Pacific Ocean and hitting a drone mid-flight.
There is then a small fire on the aircraft before it spirals out of the sky.
Military chiefs said it was the first time the powerful beam had been used in a “systems-level implementation”.
Captain Karrey Sanders, Commanding Officer of USS Portland, said: “The Solid State Laser Weapons System Demonstrator is a unique capability the Portland gets to test and operate for the Navy, while paving the way for future weapons systems.
“With this new advanced capability, we are redefining war at sea for the Navy.”
It is thought that the cannon, called a Laser Weapons System Demonstrator (LWSD), could take out incoming missiles, enemy ships and planes.
The Navy said its ships “face an increasing number of threats in conducting their mission”, including armed boats and “surveillance and reconnaissance systems”.
The force said the lasers would “provide the commander increased decision space and response options”.
With this new advanced capability, we are redefining war at sea for the Navy.Captain Karrey Sanders
According to a 2018 report from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the weapon uses a 150-kilowatt laser – which is enough energy to power the average UK house for around 15 days.
Captain Sanders added: “By conducting advanced at sea tests against UAVs and small crafts, we will gain valuable information on the capabilities of the Solid State Leaser Weapons System Demonstrator against potential threats”.
The Navy is also planning to mount lasers onto its nuclear submarines.
Running off the crafts’ nuclear reactors, the beams could be double the strength of the one tested on USS Portland.
The US military has been developing weapons of this kind since the 1960s.
One laser weapons officer, Lieutenant Cale Hughes, told US broadcaster CNN in 2017 that they work by “throwing massive amount of photons at an incoming object”.
most read in world news
Photons are weightless particles of light that carry large amounts of energy.
She continued: “We don’t worry about wind, we don’t worry about range, we don’t worry about anything else.
“We are able to engage the targets at the speed of light.”