A new powerful laser weapon system was used to blast a small truck, disabling its engine, in a show of the latest military weapon against enemy ground vehicles.

The laser was fired from several miles away but it precisely hit the target - the truck's engine - without damaging the entirety of the truck. The laser created just a small hole instead of the usual huge destruction caused by bombs and grenades.

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No one was hurt in the blast, though, because it was just a demonstration of how powerful the Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) laser weapon system developed by Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin, the defense and security technology company, said the demonstration was the highest power ever documented by this kind of laser weapon.

ATHENA uses a 30-kilowatt fiber laser system that precisely burnt into the truck's engine just a few seconds after being fired from a distance, a demonstration of how precise the latest weapons technology developed by Lockheed Martin is.

"Fiber-optics lasers are revolutionizing direct energy systems," Keoki Jackson, Lockheed Martin's chief technology officer, said in a statement. "We are investing in every component of the system - from the optics and beam control to the laser itself - to drive size, weight, and power efficiencies."

Jackson added that the next step would be to provide lightweight laser weapon systems for military, aircraft, helicopter, ships and trucks.

Lockheed Martin is not the only one developing laser system for weapons.

The US Office of Naval Research, for instance is developing a laser weapon that can shoot down aerial drones.

The laser system will be used to protect the US Marines from enemies who will be using the aerial drones in an attack.

GBAD - Ground-Based Air Defense Directed Energy On-the-Move - is a laser weapon designed to be installed on the Marines' Humvees, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and other light tactical ground vehicles. 

TagsAthena, Laser Weapon, Lockheed Martin