The U.S. Navy is looking to deal with enemy drones with a laser that Marines can use to shoot targets out of the sky from their trucks.
This anti-UAV weapon was developed under the Ground-Based Air Defense Direct Energy On-the-Move program (GBAD) as a new way to make sure drones can't track and target Marines on the ground, according to the Daily Mail.
The Office of Naval Research designed the GBAD system to shoot UAVs from a Humvee, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and other light tactical vehicles.
"We're confident we can bring together all of these pieces in a package that's small enough to be carried on light tactical vehicles and powerful enough to counter these threats," said Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea, vice chief of naval research and commanding general, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
Military lasers are expensive to build, but they are, in theory, cheaper alternatives to anti-air missiles and turrets, Popular Science reported.
The system is the latest form of technology designed for taking down enemy drones, with previous projects including one that burns holes through UAVs from a ship.
Col. William Zamagni, acting head of ONR's Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism Department, says the organization expects drones to become a more common weapon used by America's enemies, and that Marines need to prepare for attacks with this technology, the Daily Mail reported.
"GBAD gives the Marine Corps a capability to counter the UAV threat efficiently, sustainability and organically with austere expeditionary forces," Zamagni added. "GBAD employed in a counter UAV role is just the beginning of its use and opens myriad other possibilities for future expeditionary forces."
The Navy will test the GBAD system with a 10-kilowatt laser later this year and then move up to a 30-kilowatt laser for field testing in 2016.
