A battlefield laser weapon designed to destroy or disable enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), already in use by the U.S. Army, is giving U.S. Marine Corps leaders a glimpse at how they might melt drones soon. The Compact Laser Weapon System, or CLWS, is already part of the Army’s Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser program. The vehicle-mounted weapon is deployed on Stryker vehicle in Europe and has been part of field experiments. The Boeing creation is a 5-kilowatt laser that can shoot down UAVs, attack snipers, breaching obstacles, setting-off unexploded ordnance, denying enemy landing zones, and to defend ports or airfields. The laser can mount atop the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) or other light battlefield vehicles, or it can go on a tripod and hooked to a generator to knock down UAV threats at a medium-sized forward-operating base or on the perimeter of a larger installation.
