Researchers from the U.S. Army have revealed that they are close to developing laser-based weaponry that can be used to shoot down airborne threats such as military drones, missiles and artillery rounds in flight.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Mary J. Miller, from the Army for Research and Technology, told members of the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities that the research team is on pace in creating laser weapons for the Armed Forces branch, which could be deployed in battle as early as 2023.

Miller said that while some of the weapons are still undergoing stringent testing before they can be used in the field, less-powerful versions have already been developed and will be released "relatively soon."

This is to allow American soldiers to gain experience in using the new technology before letting them handle the more powerful laser weapons.

"Lasers have been promised for a long time, but they've never held up and delivered what was asked for," Miller pointed out.

"[S]o the operators are rightfully skeptical, which is why you see the [armed] services taking the lasers out in operational environments and letting them be used by operators so they can understand what the capabilities are," she said.

Laser Weaponry

The laser program being developed by the U.S. Army is designed to bolster the Armed Forces' Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC), which is a defense system meant to shoot down any missiles, rockets, artillery, mortars, or drones that can pose a threat to soldiers and civilians alike.

The program currently in place to do the above mentioned functions uses missiles. One example of such a defense system is the Iron Dome of Israel, which uses missiles to intercept any unguided rockets that may threaten the country's cities.

The technology has been proven effective, but operating it comes at a steep price. One pair of the interceptor missiles the Iron Dome uses could cost Israel as much as $50,000. This is 50 to 100 times more costly compared to the price of the cheap rockets that missiles were designed to intercept.

Laser weapons are pricier to develop compared to missiles, but they are relatively much more affordable to use and maintain in the long run. One blast from a laser-based weapon can cost only about $1 per shot. This is why countries are looking to the technology as a cheaper way to help protect their advanced military vehicles from attacks.

Israel has already started investing in a new laser component that will be included in its Iron Dome defense system.

Meanwhile, other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces have set their sights on testing their own version of laser weaponry. The Marine Corps is planning to test its anti-drone laser on a truck, while the Navy has just wrapped up its field test of a laser-based weapon placed on a ship in the Persian Gulf. The Air Force is trying to get lasers placed on its aircraft by 2022.

Army researchers have successfully tested weaker lasers in 2013. They are now looking to test functional laser weapons by 2023.