A vehicle-mounted laser system shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), The Boeing Co. [BA] announced today.

UAVs are threatening U.S. troops in war zones.

In tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the system mounted on an Avenger vehicle acquired and tracked three small UAVs flying against a complex background of mountains and desert.

Laser Avenger, as it is called, also shot down one of the UAVs from an operationally relevant range.

These tests mark the first time a combat vehicle has used a laser to shoot down a UAV, according to Boeing.

Representatives of the Army Cruise Missile Defense Systems project office observed the tests.

"Small UAVs armed with explosives or equipped with surveillance sensors are a growing threat on the battlefield," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems. "Laser Avenger, unlike a conventional weapon, can fire its laser beam without creating missile exhaust or gun flashes that would reveal its position. As a result, Laser Avenger can neutralize these UAV threats while keeping our troops safe."

The tests follow a 2007 demonstration in which an earlier version of Laser Avenger neutralized improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the ground.

"We doubled the laser power; added sophisticated acquisition, tracking and pointing capability; and simplified and ruggedized the design," said Lee Gutheinz, Boeing program director for High-Energy Laser/Electro-Optical Systems. "Boeing developed and integrated these upgrades in less than a year, underscoring our ability to rapidly respond to warfighters’ needs."

Laser Avenger integrates a directed energy weapon together with the kinetic weapons on the proven Avenger air defense system developed by Boeing Combat Systems in Huntsville, Ala. It is a Boeing-funded initiative to demonstrate that directed energy weapons are maturing and are relevant to today’s battlefield.

Boeing leads the way in developing laser systems for a variety of Air Force and Army warfighter applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, the Advanced Tactical Laser, the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator and the Tactical Relay Mirror System.