Lethal laser weapon deployed on USS Ponce in Persian Gulf
US Navy hopes new weapon will give its anti-ship defences the technological edge
A 30-kilowatt laser that destroys enemy targets with bursts of pure energy has been deployed aboard a United States warship for the first time.
Navy chiefs say the weapon performed beyond expectations in four months of operational testing - lifting hopes for a new US defence against cheap anti-ship arms.
Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, head of the Office of Naval Research, said the US$40 million (HK$310 million) laser was fully integrated into systems aboard the USS Ponce at the end of the summer for a year of testing.
"This is the first time in recorded history that a directed energy weapons system has ever deployed on anything," he said.
New video of the laser showed it dazzling a small aerial drone in two seconds, frying its electronics and sending it plummeting into the sea before it had time to catch fire.
Another showed it targeting a rocket-propelled grenade aboard a small, distant attack boat, causing the device to detonate and send a spray of shrapnel across the water.