The French Navy has reported trials of a counter-drone laser weapon on the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle during the ship's La Fayette 26 deployment earlier this year.
An account in the October edition of Cols Bleus, the navy's official magazine, said the equipment was deployed from June 4 to 8 while the ship was in port.
Two French Air and Space Force units provided the installation team: the Centre d'expertise aérienne militaire at Mont-de-Marsan and the Escadron de défense sol-air at Istres.
Installation took about four hours. Cameras, a lidar, and the laser weapon were mounted on a turret. A cooling unit and an operator control station completed the system.
The navy said the trial validated the laser's behaviour in operational conditions under which it had not previously been tested.
The equipment was transported by air, lifted aboard by crane and exposed to extreme climatic conditions. No live firing or drone interception was reported.
"This was the first trial of this system aboard a navy vessel," an unnamed air and space force non-commissioned officer quoted in the magazine said.
The navy has not named the system or its manufacturer.
