U.S. Navy Unveils World's First Active Laser Weapon In Persian Gulf

For the test, the USS Ponce crew launched the target -- a drone aircraft. Immediately, the weapons team zeroed in. 

"We don't have to lead a target," Hughes explained. "We're doing that engagement at the speed of light so it really is a point and shoot -- we see it, we focus on it, and we can negate that target." 

In an instant, the drone's wing lit up, heated to a temperature of thousands of degrees, lethally damaging the aircraft and sending it hurtling down to the sea. 

The strike comes silently and invisibly.

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