[brbsix]

The laser was targeting rockets fired by a Soviet BM-21 truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher. The rockets are used like artillery, not for targeting drones. Presumably if the laser is able to destroy 40 incoming rockets then it would be able to destroy much larger numbers of relatively slow drones.

[gnarbarian]

Thanks for the correction about the rockets. But I'm not so sure that the laser solves the drone problem. Drones could be launched closer and come from every direction staying close to the ground. You could also spread them out around the laser so the laser spends most of its time transiting between decoy targets