Drone Killing Laser Gun

(Image courtesy Lucasfilm)

Not that it’s any big deal or anything, but Boeing just demonstrated a fricken laser gun capable of taking down drones:

Boeing on Wednesday demonstrated a two-kilowatt laser shooting at stationary targets and successfully igniting them. If the targets had been drones in flight, they would have gone down.

Boeing said the military has access to lasers with 10 kilowatts of power.

Laser systems could easily be used to destroy any UAV threats, and could be mounted at the edges of airports or forward operating bases, DeYoung said.

But wait — it gets better:

What’s more, the systems are becoming compact enough to be mounted onto a Jeep or truck for deployment down range.

I hope by “down range” they mean “mounted on the hood of Steve’s truck so he can clear the left lane all up and down I-25 until people finally get the damn message that those ‘Keep Right Except to Pass’ signs are there for a reason.”

Because that’s what “down range” means to me.