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fiogf49gjkf0d BBC News
8 January 2013 Last updated at 06:25 ETRheinmetall demos laser that can shoot down dronesA laser weapons system that can shoot down two drones at a distance of over a mile has been demonstrated by Rheinmetall Defense.
 The German defense firm used the high-energy laser equipment to shoot fast-moving drones at a distance.
The system, which uses two laser weapons, was also used to cut through a steel girder a kilometer away.
The company plans to make the laser weapons system mobile and to integrate automatic cannon.
The 50-kW laser weapons system used radar and optical systems to detect and track two incoming drones, the company said. The nose-diving drones were flying at 50 meters per second (112 mph), and were shot down when they reached a programmed fire sector.Weather trialsThe weapons system locked on to the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by using radar for a rough approximation of the location of the targets, then fine-tuned the tracking using an optical system.
The high-energy laser system was used to cut through a 15-mm-thick steel girder, and to shoot out of the air a steel ball designed to mimic a mortar round.
The company has tested the laser system in a variety of weather conditions, including snow, sunlight, and rain.
Rheinmetall plans to test its laser weapons mounted on different vehicles and to integrate a 35-mm revolver cannon into it.
A number of governments and defense firms are in the process of developing weapons that use or incorporate lasers. For example, Raytheon unveiled a 50-kW anti-aircraft laser at the Farnborough Airshow in 2010, and in June 2012 the US Army released details of a weapon that can fire a laser-guided lightning bolt at a target.
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