Damage done by laser weapons is a function of power and time. The longer a laser can stay on a target, like a drone or an incoming missile, the more damage it can do. The more powerful that laser is, the less time it needs to spend burning its target. The U.S. Navy already has a 30-kilowatt laser mounted on a ship. Yesterday, at a summit on directed energy weapons in Washington, D.C., the Navy announced it plans to go bigger: 150 kilowatts.

National Defense Magazine writes:

The Office of Naval Research "will perform a shipboard test of a 150-killowatt laser weapon system in the near future," said [vice chief of naval operations] Adm. Bill Moran during a speech at Booz Allen Hamilton's Directed Energy Summit, which was held in Washington, D.C.
The Navy's 30-kilowatt laser weapon is currently onboard the USS Ponce. The system, which has been used operationally in the Persian Gulf, offers military leaders precision accuracy at a low cost, Moran said.
The laser weapon system, or LaWs, "has an extremely low-cost per engagement ratio," he said. "We're spending pennies on the dollars … every time we use that capability."