The US Army is testing a Stryker combat vehicle with a 5-kilowatt laser mounted on it to seek and destroy enemy drones. No bullets, no explosions, just a laser beam that brings the unmanned aircraft to the ground. The experimental system is called the Mobile High-Energy Laser (MEHEL).
“We are working with Space and Missile Defense Command, using their MEHEL to engage various targets, to include low-flying UAS,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Erts, chief of experimentation and wargaming with the Fires Battle Lab at the Fires Center of Excellence. This is the first year, he said, that uniformed Soldiers were actually tasked with using the system to take down actual aerial targets.
“They love the system and they are excited about not only what they can do with it in the air, but what they can do with it on the ground as well,” he said. – US Army
The MEHEL is one of three drone killing weapons being evaluated and tested by the Army. They are hoping to have an 18-kilowatt system by 2018.
Featured image of Mobile High-Energy Laser-equipped Stryker during the 2017 Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment at Fort Sill, Oklahoma by