Two prototype high energy laser weapon systems built by Raytheon [RTN] will be deployed to troops overseas as part of an Air Force experiment, the company said Aug. 5.

The experiment will include 12 months of in-field operation against unmanned aerial systems, as well as operator training, according to Raytheon. The time period or location was not disclosed.

Raytheon’s mobile high energy laser looks out into a wide-open sky. The company’s advanced high power microwave and high energy laser engaged and defeated dozens of unmanned aerial system targets in a recent U.S. Air Force demonstration. (PRNewsfoto/Raytheon Company)

The high energy laser weapon system (HELWS) is paired with Raytheon’s multi-spectral targeting system to precisely detect, identify and neutralize drones while mounted on a Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicle.

“Every day, there’s another story about a rogue drone incident,” said Stefan Baur, vice president of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems, in a Monday statement. “These threats aren’t going away, and in many instances, shooting them with a high energy laser weapon system is the most effective and safest way to bring them down.”

The new contract follows recent Army- and Air Force-led tests of Raytheon’s laser systems, including a counter-UAS demonstration last spring at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The company’s high-power microwave and mobile high energy laser systems successfully defeated multiple targets during the demo, which expanded on a similar 2017 exercise conducted by the Army.