Current drones, without modifications, are vulnerable, but it's cheap and easy to modify them. Plus, this doesn't work in humid weather either. It's another "wonder weapon" that's nothing but hype. I mean, ask an LLM, and it will give you at least several strategies for protecting a drone from any kind of directed energy weapon! Unless it's direct kinetic energy, forget about it!
> AeroVironment says it has successfully demonstrated its LOCUST laser weapon system aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush during a live-fire exercise
So, not combat proven, but demonstrated in an exercise with constrained parameters. An interesting system, but we've yet to see how well lasers handle the CIWS mission profile.
