The prototype Compact Laser Weapons System — or CLaWS — is the first ground-based laser approved by the Defense Department for use by ground troops, the Marine Corps explained.

The program is on a rapid prototyping, rapid delivery track, the service said.

“This project, from start to finish — from when we awarded the DOTC [Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium] contract, to getting all the integration complete, all the testing complete, getting the Marines trained, and getting the systems ready to deploy — took about one year,” said Lt. Col. Ho Lee, product manager for ground-based air defense future weapons systems at Program Executive Office Land Systems.

The Defense Department believes lasers are a more affordable alternative to traditional firepower and that they prevent drones from tracking and targeting Marines on the ground. The release notes the laser is not a standalone weapon, but is meant to serve as part of a larger counter-drone system.

If the prototype is successful, it could be incorporated into fixed-site and mobile capabilities designed to counter unmanned aircraft, the Marine Corps said.

The Army and Navy are also exploring the possibilities of laser technology.

The exclusion, from a letter to the speaker of the House from President Donald Trump, is a change from the same report sent six months ago. The report is required by the War Powers Resolution.

The Republican president and Democrats in the House are currently at odds over military support in Yemen, where “a small number” of U.S. military personnel are deployed, according to the June 11 letter.

The latest letter also reveals that the number of U.S. military personnel in Lebanon has declined by 50 percent since the last report, to 60.

The letter cites the territorial defeat of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but says that “operations against the continuing terrorist threats emanating from Iraq and Syria remain ongoing.”

The U.S. is coordinating its activity in Iraq with the Kurdistan Regional Government, an autonomous entity in the country — something not included in the previous letter.

Personnel numbers in Jordan have increased from 2,795 military personnel to 2,910, since the last update — the latest in a number of consecutive increases.