Watch: U.S. Navy Warship Successfully Destroys Aircraft Mid-Flight With High-Energy Laser Weapon
Video shows a U.S. Navy warship successfully shot down an aircraft out of the sky using a high-energy laser weapon. The USS Portland, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship of the United States Navy based out of San Diego, used a high-energy class solid-state laser to destroy a drone mid-flight.
“Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) successfully disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a Solid State Laser – Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) MK 2 MOD 0 on May 16,” the Navy’s Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Friday.
The Navy said that the test was the “first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser.” The 150-kilowatt weapon system has three lasers that were developed by Northrup Grumman.
“By conducting advanced at sea tests against UAVs and small crafts, we will gain valuable information on the capabilities of the Solid State Laser Weapons System Demonstrator against potential threats,” Capt. Karrey Sanders, commanding officer of Portland, said.
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