An anti-drone laser system is set to be used at Paris 2024 ©Marine Nationale

An anti-drone laser system is set to be used at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of air protection efforts.

The technology has been designed by Orléans laser and optics company CILAS and is able to detect and neutralise aerial vehicles.

The Helma-P laser system is already used by the French Air Force's surveillance system and is capable of disabling micro-drones at a distance of 25 kilometres or all commercial drones.

The lasers are invisible to the naked eye but are particularly powerful as when they come in contact with a target, it is hit with 1,800°C heat.

This is enough to pierce the plastic and burn the electronics of the drone.

The two kilowatt laser can also blind a drone by saturating its sensors with light.

"The laser effect is produced by an amplification of light made possible by its passage through an active medium and different stabilising mirrors," said French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission optics and photonics research engineer Laurent Fulbert, as reported by Le Parisien.

"This ray is also boosted by chemical elements, called rare earths, such as neodymium.

"The interest of the fibre and its silica glass is to confine the light to make the ray more powerful and concentrated. These are the same lasers used in industrial metal cutting."

CILAS sales and marketing manager Laurent Tard claims that "the shot at goal is guaranteed" from the laser.

The Helma-P also has a cooling system and fires at a sustained rate which means that it can destroy several drones in seconds.

The French Navy has also trialled the laser and aims to integrate it onto its vehicle.

Last month, France announced that it would deploy 35,000 military and security personnel to protect the Paris 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony from threats including drone attacks.

Organisers have created additional safety challenges by opting to hold the Ceremony on the River Seine with boats full of athletes.

Crowds of more than 600,000 people could line the riverbank and French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said drones were a "totally new threat".

The Government has already pledged €350 million (£300 million/$377 million) for the fight against drones.