A laser weapon capable of shooting down drones which can be mounted on military vehicles such as Humvees, is to be created by the US Navy.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) said it had awarded contracts for the design of a lightweight laser missile aimed at protecting troops from drone attacks, dubbed Ground-Based Air Defence Directed Energy On-the-Move programme, otherwise known as GBAD.
Colonel William Zamagni said the GBAD is necessary to combat enemies' increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in conflicts. "We can expect that our adversaries will increasingly use UAVs and our expeditionary forces must deal with that rising threat. GBAD gives the Marine Corps a capability to counter the UAV threat efficiently, sustainably and organically with austere expeditionary forces. GBAD employed in a counter UAV role is just the beginning of its use and opens myriad other possibilities for future expeditionary forces."
