DUBAI, United Arab Emirates AP -- The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday it tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in the Mideast, a system that could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
The USS Portland test-fired its Laser Weapon System Demonstrator at the target in the Gulf of Aden, the body of water separating East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.
The Mideast-based 5th Fleet described the laser as having successfully engaged the target in a statement. The laser was used in Portland to bring down a flying drone in May 2020.
The Gulf of Aden is located along the southern coast of war-torn Yemen, which has been at war since Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized its capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 but the stalemate conflict has dragged on for years, becoming the world's worst humanitarian disaster and killing an estimated 110,000 people.
The war has also bled into the surrounding waterways, such as the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb, which connects the sea to the Gulf of Aden. These waterways are crucial for international shipping and global energy supplies, as they lead to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Houthis have deployed drone boats into these waters which can be piloted remotely and sent up to a target before they can be tonated. These boats are suspected of being built with Iran's help.
In 2018, Emirati officials showed off footage that they described as coming from a drone boat computer with Iranians building components for the boat's guidance system, with a hat visible in the background of a picture bearing the symbol of Iran's hard-line Revolutionary Guard. Iran denies arming the Houthis, but United Nations experts, independent analysts and Western nations point out that Tehran has a link to the weapons.
The Portland, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, has its home port in San Diego. The ship is deployed as part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group that is now in the Mideast.