Per a press release from Lockheed Martin, the test took place at a government testing facility at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Operated by United States Air Force personnel, it was reportedly “able to destroy multiple drones in engagements representative of what is being encountered by U.S. armed forces today.”

The threat of unmanned aerial attacks has become a prescient one in recent years, with drone technology now widely available in both fixed-wing and quadcopter formats. As reported by Popular Mechanics, that potential was realized during a 2018 attack on a series of Russian military bases in Syria using low-tech, black market drones. While the drones were ultimately shot down before causing any serious damage, the point was illustrated. Lockheed Martin claims that their system will provide a cost-effective defense against similar attacks in the future.

The laser is also reportedly capable of destroying inbound missiles and artillery shells. In good news for anyone in need of a swift panic attack, Lockheed Martin claims that when in anti-artillery mode, the ATHENA weapons system operates autonomously, utilizing artificial intelligence to zero in on fast-moving targets and firing without human authorization. It’s the sort of technological development which, historically speaking, invariably precedes a computer’s realization that man is the greatest threat of all and the Age of Machines is upon us.