U.S. TESTS LASER WEAPON DESTROYED AIRCRAFT MID-FLIGHT IN TEST

The U.S. has succeeded in destroying an aircraft in mid-flight using a laser weapon fired from the USS Portland, the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet said on Friday, May 22, 2020 (Saturday in Manila.)

In a CNN report filed by Brad Lendon, the U.S. Navy showed images and videos showing the amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland executing "the first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser" to disable an aerial drone aircraft, the statement said, and images showed the laser emanating from the deck of the warship and hitting and burning the drone.

The Navy did not give a specific location of the laser weapons system demonstrator (LWSD) test, saying only that it occurred in the Pacific on May 16. The power of the weapon was not disclosed, but a 2018 report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies said it was expected to be a 150-kilowatt laser.

"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 in the statement. "With this new advanced capability, we are redefining war at sea for the Navy."