Navy Ready To "Burn Boats" With New Laser Weapon

"The Navy will install a High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler (HELIOS) with surveillance sensors aboard an unspecified Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA destroyer, in the next several years, Boxall said.

HELIOS is a directed energy weapon that can burn small speed boats, similar to the ones Iran deploys in the Persian Gulf, and can also down unmanned aerial vehicles.

If the Navy wants to avoid an international incident, the weapon can "dazzle" a UAV's electro-optical sensors, effectively destroying the sensor without taking down the aircraft. Developed by defense contractor Lockheed Martin under a $150 million contract, the 60-kilowatt HELIOS system will be the most powerful and first direct energy weapon to be deployed on a guided missile destroyer."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-25/navy-ready-burn-boats-new-laser-weapon