The Google translated Russian article at
https://militaryarticle-ru.translat...tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc has more details on the MTU, and states:
"US Army in the 1970s was interested in creating laser weapons to destroy enemy aircraft, helicopters and tactical guided missiles, and it was required that the installation with laser weapons be close in size to a tank. In 1973, work began on the creation of a mobile laser weapon system, called the Mobile Test Unit (MTU). In 1975, the system was mounted on a floating tracked armored personnel carrier of the Marine Corps LVTP-7.
An electric-discharge cw CO2 laser with a power of 10-15 kW (according to other sources, several tens of kilowatts), developed by Avco, with a Perkin-Elmer aiming and tracking system, was supplied with energy from an installed additional gas turbine generator. Radiators were installed in the sides on both sides of the turbine to remove heat from the laser to the atmosphere. Prior to airborne demonstrations, the MTU was tested on rough terrain to see how well the high-energy laser and guidance system components could withstand the vibrations, shocks, and shocks of being transported over poor roads...
In the mid 1970s. the power of a continuous CO2 laser on a tracked chassis was increased to 30-40 kW (according to other sources, up to 50 kW), and the US Army conducted an experiment in 1975, during which an unmanned aircraft and a helicopter were shot down by a laser beam. In 1976, the MTU laser installation was again successfully tested at the arsenal's test site, during which firing at air targets was carried out. As a result, two radio-controlled aerial targets MQM-61 "Cardinal", flying at a speed of 480 km / h, and several target helicopters were shot down, the flight altitude of one of them was about 300 m."
