(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Navy successfully tested a new generation laser weapon system earlier this week in the Gulf of Aden, the Navy's Middle East-based 5th Fleet said in a statement on Thursday.
During the demonstration on Wednesday, a high-energy laser weapon was fired from the USS Portland, an amphibious transport dock ship, on a static surface training target. The Laser Weapons System Demonstrator, or LWSD, had been previously tested in May 2020, when it successfully disabled a small unmanned aerial system while operating in the Pacific Ocean.
The laser weapon isn't entirely new to the U.S. Navy. The LWSD has been integrated in the Portland since 2018 and builds on a previous laser system which was tested for three years aboard the USS Ponce while operating in the Middle East.
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