Aerial defense

Military tries lasers against small UAVs

The military is looking at ways to counter possible threats from the increasing number of small, low-flying unmanned aerial vehicles, including those that could be carrying bombs.

One potential way is through the use of lasers, which are themselves starting to become cheaper and more common.

“There aren’t a lot of ways to deal with UAVs right now,” said David DeYoung, director of Boeing’s Laser and Electro-Optical Systems. “Lasers, it turns out, very effective against UAVs.”