It’s an effort that appears to be paying off with the recent tests in New Mexico setting new records. Previously, the POWER system managed to use a laser to beam 230 watts across one mile (1.7 km) for 25 seconds, and an undisclosed lesser amount of power as far as 2.3 miles (3.7 km). Now, DARPA has managed to increase this to 800 watts for 30 seconds at a distance of 5.3 miles (8.6 km).