These assertions fall in line with the Pentagon’s priority of developing Navy laser weapons that can neutralize the hypersonic threat. That said, the United States is still years away from a reliable, high-powered laser weapon capable of taking out hypersonic missiles. In 2014, the U.S. Navy conducted its first sea trials with a laser weapon after installing the 33-kilowatt AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (LaWS) on the amphibious transport ship USS Ponce. During a weapons test in 2024, HELIOS zapped an aerial drone, according to a January report from the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation. But to thwart a hypersonic missile, the Navy needs something much more powerful on the order of 300 kilowatts.