Patent Description:
<CIT> discloses a plant eradication system providing an ultraviolet radiation beam delivered by a laser. Said system being applied by either a ground delivered vehicle or an airborne vehicle.

There are many different ways of destroying crops of plants that are harvested to produce an illicit drug. For example, a group of people (typically law enforcement troops of the country where the crop is growing) physically take possession of the area where the crops are growing and physically destroy the crops by burning, uprooting, and/or prematurely harvesting the plants. Unfortunately, the people growing the crops often attempt to prevent these troops from destroying their crops by opposing the troops with force. This exposes the law enforcement troops to serious bodily harm and often death.

To overcome this problem, many law enforcement agencies attempt to destroy the crops by exposing the crops to a chemical herbicide or fire, which they can apply or start remotely. For example, one can fly over a crop of such plants and spray a chemical herbicide onto the plants. Although this reduces the number of law enforcement troops exposed to danger during crop destruction, the plane spraying the crops must fly low and close to the crops to affectively apply the chemical herbicide to the crops and to limit the exposure of other plants and animals to the herbicide. Even so, some of the herbicide will find its way into nearby water and animals, and cause more damage. For another example, one can ignite a crop of such plants by dropping an incendiary device onto a field of the crops. Although this can be done with limited exposure of law enforcement troops to danger, it can be difficult to control the fire once it's started. The growers may be able to put out the fire before much of their crops can be destroyed, or the fire could get out of control and destroy areas beyond the crops.

Thus, there is a need for a system that can damage and/or destroy a crop of plants while minimizing one's exposure to hostile action from a grower and while minimizing collateral damage to the surrounding area and animals.

In an aspect of the invention, a system for targeting and damaging a growing plant is provided as set forth in claim <NUM>.

The controller can determine whether a target of the laser is a plant to be damaged. In response to this determination, the controller can also: a) prevent the laser's beam of energy from reaching the target, if the target is not a plant to be damaged, and b) cause the laser's beam of energy to reach the target, if the target is a plant to be damaged.

With the system's laser one can target and damage a plant, such as a poppy, or a crop of plants, from a location that is close enough to the plant to ensure that the target is a plant to be damaged, yet far enough away from the plant to mitigate the laser's exposure to hostile action from a person trying to protect the plant or crop of plants. With the system's aircraft, one can make the system's laser very mobile and thus further reduce the exposure of the laser to hostile action. When the aircraft is a manned aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter flown by an onboard pilot, such mobility also helps mitigate the pilot's exposure to hostile action from a person trying to protect the plant or crop of plants. And finally, with the system's controller, one can control in real time the beam of energy generated by the laser to ensure that the target(s) of the laser are the plants to be damaged, not other plants, animals, people, vehicles nor structures. In this manner, the system for targeting and damaging growing plants does not generate unwanted collateral damage.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for distinguishing a growing plant or crop from others and targeting and damaging it is provided as set forth in claim <NUM>.

<FIG> shows a view of a system <NUM> for targeting and damaging a growing plant according to an embodiment of the invention. The system <NUM> may be used to target and damage a single plant <NUM> and/or a crop of plants <NUM> (shown here) growing in an area. The growing plant <NUM> targeted for damage may be any desired plant. For example, here the plant <NUM> is a poppy that is grown and harvested to obtain opium, and although the system <NUM> is discussed as being used to damage such poppies <NUM>, the system <NUM> may be used to target and damage any other plant capable of producing an illicit drug as well as other plants that are simply unwanted in a given area.

The system <NUM> includes an aircraft <NUM>, a laser <NUM> (discussed in greater detail in conjunction with <FIG> and <FIG>) mounted to the aircraft <NUM>, and a controller (discussed in greater detail in conjunction with <FIG> and <FIG>) also mounted to the aircraft <NUM>. The aircraft <NUM> positions the laser <NUM> and controller at least <NUM> meters away from the crop of opium poppies <NUM>, and may be any aircraft capable of performing this function. Here the aircraft <NUM> is an airplane controlled by an on-board pilot. In other embodiments, the aircraft <NUM> may be a balloon, helicopter or an unmanned drone. The laser <NUM> can generate a beam of energy <NUM> sufficient to critically damage the poppies <NUM> in the area from at least <NUM> meters away, and when aimed and fired at the poppies <NUM> causes the poppies <NUM> or portion of the poppies <NUM> to be exposed to the energy in the generated beam <NUM>. The damage to the opium poppy <NUM> caused by the beam's energy may be sufficient to kill the poppy's seed pod instantly or more slowly such as within several days, prevent the maturation of the seed pod, or substantially increase the time it takes for the seed pod to mature. Although any part of the poppy <NUM> may be exposed to the laser's beam <NUM>, exposing the stem of the poppy <NUM> to the beam <NUM> is an efficient way to damage the poppy's seed pod because much of the nutrients for the seed pod's development flows through the poppy's stem. The controller includes a sensor <NUM> (here five different ones, each discussed in greater detail in conjunction with <FIG> and <FIG>) and can identify targets in the area where the opium poppies <NUM> grow and determine whether the target is a poppy <NUM> to be damaged. Then, based on this determination, the controller can either cause the poppy <NUM> to be exposed to the laser's beam, or prevent the target from being exposed to the laser's beam <NUM>.

With the system's laser <NUM> one can target and damage a crop of opium poppies <NUM> from a location that is close enough to the poppies <NUM> to ensure that the targeted plant <NUM> to be damaged is an opium poppy <NUM>, yet far enough away from the poppy <NUM> to mitigate the laser's exposure, and thus any on-board personnel's exposure, to hostile action from a person trying to protect the crop of poppies <NUM>. With the system's aircraft <NUM>, one can make the system's laser <NUM>, and thus the on-board pilot, very mobile, and thus further reduce the exposure of both to hostile action. And finally, with the system's controller, one can control in real time the energy beam <NUM> generated by the laser <NUM> to ensure that the target(s) of the laser <NUM> are the opium poppies <NUM>, not other plants, animals, people, vehicles and/or structures. In this manner, the system <NUM> for targeting and damaging the growing opium poppies <NUM> does not generate unwanted collateral damage.

In operation, the system <NUM> may be flown in a pattern, typically circular or nearly so, around the target area with a vertical distance (A in <FIG>) and a horizontal distance (B in <FIG>) set by the needs of the specific implementation, balancing needs for safety and efficacy. Because these two objectives generally run counter to each other, desired vertical and horizontal distances A and B, respectively, may be determined on a case-by-case basis. Factors to consider when determining the vertical and horizontal distances include type of plant <NUM> to be damaged, whether the system <NUM> is likely to encounter hostile actions, the speed at which the system <NUM> can damage the crop of plants <NUM> in an area, which depends on the system's laser <NUM> and the size and terrain of the area where the plants <NUM> grow.

If hostile action is not expected, the flight radius around the target area may be small, and an aircraft suited to safe slow flight may be used. For example, a fixed-wing aircraft with slow-flight capabilities (e.g., <NUM> knots or less), a lighter-than-air aircraft, or a rotor-wing can be used, and positioned along a flight path that is described by a ratio of the horizontal distance B to vertical distance A of <NUM>:<NUM> to <NUM>:<NUM>. The ratio described by the flight path could be larger especially for a system <NUM> that includes a tethered airborne platform. These ratios allow each pass of the laser beam <NUM> to cross many stems without being unduly impeded by other vegetation, such as leaves and neighboring crops or trees, and also allow the laser beam <NUM> to terminate on the ground of the target area, not beyond or outside of the target area. Being closer to the targeted opium poppies <NUM> also allows for less divergence or scattering of the energy beam <NUM>, and thus more energy of the energy beam <NUM> may be transferred to the targeted plants <NUM>.

If hostile action is expected, however, then the horizontal distance B or vertical distance A defining the flight path may be much greater than that discussed above. For example, a minimum horizontal distance to the opium poppies <NUM> may be <NUM> meters to greatly reduce the effectiveness of an AK-<NUM> being fired at the system <NUM>, with this horizontal distance B, one can then establish the vertical distance A using one of the ratios discussed above. With the increase in distance between the laser <NUM> and the targeted pants <NUM> to be damaged, the laser <NUM> will have to generate a laser beam <NUM> that can travel a distance and contain enough energy when the beam hits the opium poppy <NUM> to damage the poppy <NUM>. An embodiment of such a system <NUM> may include a laser <NUM> that generates an energy beam <NUM> having a short wavelength and enough power to span a distance defined by <NUM>,<NUM> meters or more in the horizontal direction and <NUM>,<NUM> meters or more in the vertical direction.

The operational speed of the system <NUM> (e.g., acres treated per hour) depends on numerous factors, including the wavelength, type, power and quality of the laser <NUM>, which is discussed in greater detail in conjunction with <FIG>. Here, an embodiment of the system <NUM> includes a laser <NUM> that is a fiber laser stacked to generate an energy beam <NUM> having a wavelength of <NUM> nanometers (nm), a low M-squared parameter, and several tens of kilowatts (kW) of power (a measure of the beam's energy). Such an energy beam <NUM> can effectively damage several acres of opium poppies <NUM> to several tens of acres of poppies <NUM> per hour from a distance of <NUM> - <NUM> meters from target and <NUM> - <NUM> meters above ground.

Still referring to <FIG>, the components of the system <NUM> may be mounted to the aircraft <NUM> as desired, and may include components in addition to the laser <NUM> and controller. For example, in this and other embodiments, the laser <NUM> and controller may be mounted within the aircraft's airframe, and the system <NUM> may also include a high-capacity generator (not shown) to generate electric power for the laser <NUM>, a chiller/cooling/heat dissipation unit (also not shown) to help keep the laser <NUM> and controller cool during operation, an auxiliary power unit (APU) (also not shown) to provide power to the system <NUM> and specifically to the high-capacity generator, and armor (also not shown) to protect the system <NUM> and person(s) in the aircraft <NUM> from damage from hostile fire. The armor may extend or cover as much or as little of the aircraft <NUM> as desired. In this and other embodiments, the aircraft <NUM> of the system <NUM> is configured to hold two people - a pilot to fly the aircraft <NUM> and a technician to monitor and operate the laser <NUM> and other components of the system <NUM>. In other embodiments, the pilot may also monitor and operate the laser <NUM> and other components of the system. In still other embodiments, the pilot may fly the aircraft <NUM> while a technician located remotely from the aircraft <NUM> monitors and operates the laser <NUM> and other components of the system <NUM>.

Other embodiments are possible. For example, the system <NUM> may include land-to-air missile countermeasures and systems such as chaff and flares to provide additional protection in an extremely hostile environment. For another example, the system <NUM> may include an aircraft <NUM> that may be modified to not only damage targeted plants <NUM>, but to also respond to other threats by using the laser <NUM> against the other threats. For example, if the system <NUM> is operating with other systems <NUM> in the vicinity, each of the systems <NUM> may be programmed to share threat data and combine and coordinate in response, raising the overall level of safety for the system <NUM> and crew. In such a situation, the aircraft <NUM> could retreat to greater distances and/or circle the threat alone or with other systems <NUM> to ensure multiple attack angles on the ground threat.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of a portion of the system <NUM> shown in <FIG>, according to an embodiment of the invention.

The laser <NUM> may be any desired laser or combination of lasers capable of generating such an energy beam <NUM>, and the beam <NUM> may be any desired beam <NUM> that has a sufficient amount of energy to damage a specific plant <NUM> (here a crop of opium poppies) during a specific operation. Because damage to the plant <NUM> is caused by the energy in the beam <NUM>, the laser <NUM> should generate a beam <NUM> having a wavelength that will facilitate the opium poppy's absorption of energy from the beam <NUM>, and an amount of energy that will be transferred to the poppy for the period that the poppy <NUM> is exposed to the beam <NUM> to sufficiently damage it.

Opium poppy plants, for example, have absorption peaks at wavelengths of <NUM> - <NUM>, around <NUM>, around <NUM>, and around <NUM>, which make these wavelengths desirable for damaging opium poppies <NUM>. Within these choices, <NUM> may be selected because it is visible. If stealthy operation of the system <NUM> is desired during the day when the poppies absorb sunlight for growth, then a light beam <NUM> having a wavelength of <NUM> would be hard to detect in the day and hard to protect against because to block it would involve also blocking sunlight. Wavelengths of <NUM> and <NUM> may be selected because they penetrate deeper into the vegetation (as may be more appropriate for more dense coca plants) and because they are not quick to damage an animal's eye. A wavelength in the range of <NUM>-<NUM> may be selected because it diverges less in the atmosphere allowing for a more focused beam on a target from farther away, and scatters less in a high, hot and arid environment.

The amount of energy required to lethally overheat or otherwise critically metabolically damage the stem of an opium poppy <NUM> is about <NUM> - <NUM> Joules/mm<NUM> (J/mm<NUM>). A typical stem of an opium poppy <NUM> that produces a seed pod, has a diameter of about <NUM> - <NUM> centimeters (cm). Assuming a <NUM> high energy beam <NUM> at the opium poppy <NUM>, this equates to a typical lased cross-sectional area of about <NUM> - <NUM><NUM>. So, the total amount of energy typically required to lethally overheat or otherwise critically metabolically damage a cross section of a single stem of an opium poppy is about <NUM> - <NUM> J. One watt (W) equals one J/sec. So, if a critically damaging dose of energy is to be provided to the opium poppy <NUM> by exposing it to the energy beam <NUM> over a period of one one-thousandth of a second, then the laser <NUM> should output <NUM> - <NUM> kW of power. These numbers are calculated for an energy beam <NUM> that will hit a single stem at an angle perpendicular to the stem. The more stems that will be exposed to the beam <NUM>, then the correspondingly greater the amount of energy that must be in the energy beam <NUM> to sufficiently damage the opium poppies <NUM>. Similarly, the quicker the period during which a stem is exposed to the energy beam <NUM>, then the correspondingly greater the amount of energy that must be in the energy beam <NUM> to sufficiently damage the opium poppy <NUM>. Also, as the energy beam <NUM> hits the stem progressively more obliquely, then increasingly greater amounts of energy must be transferred to critically damage the poppy <NUM>.

In this and other embodiments, the laser <NUM> generates a beam of light <NUM> having a wavelength of <NUM> nanometers (nm), a low M-squared parameter, and several kilowatts (kW) of power. Such a light beam <NUM> can effectively damage several acres of opium poppies <NUM> to several tens of acres or poppies <NUM> per hour from a distance of <NUM> - <NUM> meters from target and <NUM> - <NUM> meters above ground.

Other embodiments are possible. For example, the laser <NUM> may generate a pulsed energy beam having a wavelength of <NUM>, a low M-squared parameter, and <NUM> W of power. For another example, the laser <NUM> may generate a continuous energy beam having a wavelength of <NUM> (near infrared), a low M-squared parameter, and <NUM> kilowatts (kW) of power. For greater stealth and potentially greater safety from ground threats, the system <NUM> can be used at night and the laser <NUM> can generate an energy beam <NUM> having a non-visible wavelength. For less stealth and/or for more operating time per day the system <NUM> can be used day and night, and the laser <NUM> can generate an energy beam <NUM> having a wavelength in the visible and/or non-visible range of the electro-magnetic spectrum.

Still referring to <FIG>, the laser <NUM> may include an optical component (not shown) to shape the energy beam <NUM> generated by the laser <NUM> before the beam <NUM> reaches the opium poppies <NUM>. The optic may shape the beam <NUM> into any desired shape. For example, the laser's optic may focus the beam <NUM> into an area at the target that is less than the cross-sectional area of the beam when it's generated by the laser <NUM>. This concentrates the energy in the beam <NUM> into a small target area, which can decrease the amount of time required for the opium poppy <NUM> to absorb a critically damaging dose of energy to prevent or reduce opium production.

For another example, the optic may focus the beam <NUM> generated by the laser <NUM> in a single dimension. More specifically, the optic may focus the laser beam <NUM> in the vertical or near vertical direction. Given that the opium poppy stems are generally vertical, the target area may be treated using numerous continuous, quasi-continuous, and/or broken obliquely horizontal beam paths across the target area until the plants <NUM> in the target area are treated adequately. A beam <NUM> that is moving horizontally at several meters per second or more through the target area need not be tightly focused in the horizontal dimension as several centimeters or even meters of the beam <NUM> width will cross the same area on the crop within a very short period (e.g., several milliseconds). This allows similar effectiveness but less cost, complexity, and weight on the system's aircraft <NUM> compared to a small circular energy beam <NUM> that is tightly focused in both horizontal and vertical directions. Such an approach may also allow for use of laser <NUM> that spreads more (e.g., are lower quality) in one axis than in another, such as a diode bar. Such an approach also allows for a laser exit lens and/or aperture to be relatively narrow, such as only a few centimeters wide, while being relatively tall, such as several hundred centimeters, and focusing the beam waist at the target down to as little as a few millimeters to a few tenths of millimeter in height. In the case of large aircraft <NUM> and/or in the case of affixing or suspending or extending the focusing system outside the aircraft <NUM>, especially an aircraft <NUM> that can remain airborne with low or negligible forward speed through the air, the laser exit lens could be extended vertically to many times the above-cited length, allowing for increased effectiveness through tighter focusing of the laser beam <NUM> at target and/or greater distances between the laser <NUM> and target without sacrificing effectiveness. In general, the larger the exit lens, the longer the range and/or the greater the ability to focus the beam <NUM> to increase flux density and exposure rate.

In other embodiments, the optic may be programmable and have a variable-focal-length with stabilization and rotatable/gimbaled mounting. With such an optic, the shape of the energy beam <NUM> generated by the laser <NUM> may be modified during operation of the system <NUM> to adapt to changes in operations and/or the environment.

Still referring to <FIG>, the system <NUM> includes a power source <NUM> to provide the laser enough power to generate the desired energy beam <NUM>. The power source <NUM> may be any desired power source capable of performing this function. For example, in this and other embodiments, the power source <NUM> is a generator that converts mechanical energy, such as in the form of a rotating shaft, into electricity. The generator may be coupled to the aircraft's engine or to an APU. In other embodiments, the power source <NUM> may include a storage device such as a battery.

Still referring to <FIG>, the controller <NUM> identifies targets in an area for the laser <NUM>, and determines whether the targets are an opium poppy <NUM> to be damaged, or some other object, such as a person or a shed (shown in <FIG>). Then, based on this determination, the controller <NUM> either causes the target to be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>, or prevents the target from being exposed to the laser's beam <NUM>. To accomplish this the controller <NUM> includes circuitry <NUM> to control the operation of the laser <NUM>, and a sensor <NUM> to sense a signal from the target and transmit to the circuitry data that represents the sensed signal. The controller's circuitry then compares the data transmitted from the sensor with data that represents other, known objects to determine whether the target should be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>.

The sensor <NUM> may be any desired sensor capable of sensing a signal from an object and transmitting to the control circuitry data that represents the signal. For example, in this and other embodiments, the controller <NUM> includes five different sensors <NUM> - a thermal imaging camera, a hyperspectral or multi-spectral camera, a visible light camera, a precision locating instrument, and a sensor for sensing the shape of an object. The thermal imaging camera senses infrared radiation and is used to help identify whether an object is an animal by the detecting the object's heat signature. The hyperspectral or multispectral camera emits and senses radiation in many different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum that an object emits or reflects, and is used to distinguish various types of vegetation and their stages of growth. This information can be used to identify and/or confirm that a plant is an opium poppy <NUM> or some other type of plant. This information can also be used to determine whether a targeted object is metallic like the roof of the shed in <FIG>. The precision locating instrument may be a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)-enabled Global Positioning System (GPS) instrument that provides precise, frequent, and coordinated location information about the position of the target plant <NUM>, the laser <NUM>, and the areas being sensed by the other sensors. The visible light camera senses radiation in the range of wavelengths that the human eye can perceive and allows a person to see the target to help determine whether the target should be exposed to the laser's beam <NUM>. And, the sensor that senses the shape of an object may be a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) instrument that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light and then measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor or sensors. Differences in laser light return times, intensities, and wavelengths can then be used to make digital <NUM>-D representations of the target, notably identifying artificial structures and objects such as buildings and vehicles. In addition to these sensors <NUM> the system <NUM> may include a global positioning sensor to allow the controller <NUM> to determine the location of the object and provide another means for determining whether the object should be exposed to the laser's light beam <NUM>. The controller <NUM> typically uses the data transmitted by each of the sensors in conjunction with the other data transmitted by the other sensors <NUM> to determine whether the target should be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>. The controller <NUM> and its sensors <NUM> may also be used before an actual operation with the system <NUM>, such as a day or more, to help locate areas where opium poppies <NUM> are growing. Then, a plan for using the system <NUM> can be developed and executed. In other embodiments the controller <NUM> may use fewer or more sensors <NUM> and may use their respective transmitted data alone or with fewer than all of the other transmitted data to determine whether the target should be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>.

With the sensors <NUM> of the controller <NUM>, the system <NUM> can operate in the open with an expected <NUM>% on-target-area rate with an expected <NUM>% rate on human or animal heat signatures or structures within the target area. Sufficient safety margins around the perimeter of the target area and around human and animal heat signatures and structures will prevent unwanted exposure to the laser's energy beam <NUM> prior to the beam <NUM> straying into these non-target areas, even if the aircraft hits turbulence, the targeting system is otherwise disturbed, or sensor <NUM> data is lost. In addition to the sensors being used to identifying targets, the sensors may also be used to validate and/or confirm the overall success of the system's operation on a crop of opium poppies <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may cause the target to be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>, or prevent the target from being exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM> in any desired manner. For example, in this and other embodiments, when the controller <NUM> determines that the target is to be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>, then the controller <NUM> aims the laser <NUM> at the target and directs the laser <NUM> to generate an energy beam <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may aim the laser <NUM> so that beam <NUM> that it generates hits the stem of the targeted opium poppy <NUM> for a period and then directs the laser <NUM> to stop generating the energy beam <NUM> before aiming the laser <NUM> at the next targeted opium poppy <NUM>. In other embodiments, the controller <NUM> can quickly aim the laser <NUM> at the next targeted opium poppy <NUM> while continuing to direct the laser <NUM> to generate the energy beam <NUM>. When the controller <NUM> determines that the target is not to be exposed to the laser's energy beam <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may direct the laser <NUM> to not generate or stop generating the beam <NUM>. In other embodiments, the controller <NUM> can simply block the beam <NUM> from reaching the target by positioning a filter or barrier between the laser <NUM> and the target. Alternatively, the controller <NUM> may simply change the shape of the beam <NUM> with an optical component such that the beam <NUM> is diffused or scattered such that any portion of the beam <NUM> that does reach the object has very little energy and thus won't damage the object.

<FIG> shows a flow-chart illustrating an operation of the system <NUM> shown in <FIG>, according to an embodiment of the invention.

In this and other embodiments, the first step <NUM> to operating the system <NUM> (<FIG>) is to position the system <NUM> at least <NUM> meters away from the area that contains growing opium poppies <NUM> to be damaged. Here, as previously discussed, an aircraft <NUM> of the system <NUM> is flown in a pre-determined flight path a substantial distance from the area. Next, in step <NUM>, the controller <NUM> identifies a target within the area, as previously discussed. Then, in step <NUM>, the controller determines whether the target is an opium poppy <NUM> (<FIG>), as previously discussed. If the controller <NUM> determines that the target is an opium poppy <NUM>, then at step <NUM>, the controller <NUM> aims the laser <NUM> at the poppy <NUM> and directs the laser <NUM> (<FIG> and <FIG>) to generate an energy beam <NUM> (<FIG> and <FIG>). In this manner, the opium poppy <NUM> is exposed to the laser's beam <NUM>. If the controller <NUM> determines that the target is not an opium poppy <NUM>, then at step <NUM>, the controller <NUM> prevents the laser's beam <NUM> from reaching the target, as previously discussed. While either exposing the opium poppy <NUM> to the beam <NUM> for a period or preventing the beam <NUM> from reaching the target, the controller <NUM>, at step <NUM> again, identifies another target in the area and proceeds to determine whether this other target is an opium poppy <NUM>. After either exposing the first plant <NUM> for the period or preventing the beam <NUM> from reaching the target, the controller <NUM> then proceeds to either step <NUM> or step <NUM>, again, depending on whether the target is an opium poppy <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A system (<NUM>) for targeting and damaging a growing plant or crop (<NUM>), the system (<NUM>) comprising:
a laser (<NUM>) operable to generate a beam (<NUM>) of energy sufficient to damage a plant (<NUM>) when the plant (<NUM>) is exposed to the beam (<NUM>) and located at least <NUM> meters away;
a controller (<NUM>) operable to determine whether a target of the energy beam (<NUM>) is a plant (<NUM>) to be damaged, and in response to the determination:
prevent the energy beam (<NUM>) from reaching the target, if the target is not a plant (<NUM>) to be damaged, and
cause the energy beam (<NUM>) to reach the target, if the target is a plant (<NUM>) to be damaged; and
an aircraft operable to position the laser and the controller airborne at least <NUM> meters away from the plant;
wherein the controller (<NUM>) includes:
- a sensor (<NUM>) operable to sense infrared radiation emitted by an animal, and generate data from the sensed radiation that represents a thermal image of the animal, and
- circuity for comparing the generated data with data that represents a thermal image of a known animal.