A LASER for RAF planes to dazzle heat-seeking missiles has been successfully tested for the first time against a swarm of incoming rockets.
The Ministry of Defence said the lasers hit multiple targets with pinpoint accuracy.
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It claimed the missiles were “defeated faster than the time it takes to read this sentence”.
The Miysis lasers “confuse” missile guidance systems and steer rockets away from their targets.
They need only 1,300 watts of power — the same as a microwave oven.
The trials in remote northern Sweden were the first time the Miysis lasers had “defeated a range of infrared heat-seeking missiles being fired simultaneously”.
The MoD said: “RAF pilots are one step closer to being equipped with a cutting-edge laser self-protection system, following 100 per cent successful live-fire trials.”
It is expected to be fitted to a range of RAF aircraft, including the A400M Atlas transporter.
Miysis, made by aerospace company Leonardo, was originally designed to save helicopters from shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles.
They are an upgrade to old-fashioned flares, also known as chaff, which burst out of aircraft like fireworks to confuse heat-seeking missiles.