These ATVs Can Blast Drones Out of the Sky With Frickin’ Laser Beams

They're not sharks, but we’ll take it

October 17, 2017 9:00 am

What do you get when you cross laser beams, all-terrain vehicles and Predator drones?

One helluva an early ‘90s movie, possibly starring Sean Astin. Also, the video posted above.

What you’re seeing in the clip is a Polaris MRZR ATV that’s been outfitted with a high-energy laser weapons system which is running a variant of Raytheon’s Multi-spectral Targeting System. The whole package has been given a name that just rolls off the tongue: the HELWS-MRZR.

Equipped with sophisticated electro-optical and infrared sensors, the MRZR can offer four hours of electronic intelligence and fire 30 laser shots on a charge from a standard outlet.

Drone (2 images)

Currently testing on the defense contractor’s campus in Texas, the laser-equipped ATVs are small enough to fit in an airplane’s cargo bay or inside a helicopter and Raytheon says they are already capable of protecting forward-operating bases and sites where convoys have to stop.

“The idea is to quickly take this solution out of the lab and put it in the hands of the operators,” said Raytheon VP of advanced concepts Art Morrish. “The folks in uniform are going to find ways to use it that those of us in lab coats never have.”

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