Hundreds of RAF planes have already been attacked with laser pens in the UK and abroad over the last five years, Express.co.uk revealed last week.
They also revealed how a drone flew within just 20 metres of a passenger plane as it travelled over Westminster – which could have triggered a deadly catastrophe.
Now, a leading aviation safety analyst said there is “most definitely a risk” of a helicopter being brought down over the capital.
Dave Taylor, of the National Police Air Service, said it was “extremely easy” to get hold of laser devices and terrorists could use the crude technology to interfere with aeroplanes in the UK and abroad.
He told media: “There is most definitely a risk of helicopter coming down over London.
“Quite often it is juveniles who the police catch with them, but it can be people who are old enough and should know better.
“No doubt they are used by organised criminals as well. It is across the board. They should really be treated as offensive weapons.
“Because they are so available and potentially very very dangerous, than it is not a big step to assume that that type of decision that terrorist would come to as well.”
The MoD revealed last week 470 laser related Defence Air Safety Occurrence Reports were received in the last five years involving UK military aircraft.
Around 250 of those had occurred in the UK, while 220 were carried out overseas.
Mr Taylor, who is a member of the Government’s UK laser working group, said in 2014 more than 20,000 lasers were imported into the UK.
The majority of those come from east Asia and quality control of those imports can be “very poor”, he said.
Today's laser pens are up to 5,000 times stronger than those used fifteen years ago.
Their strength has risen from 1 milliwatt - equivalent to the power you'd need for a pointer in a classroom - to five to seven watts - “easily enough to burn your name into a wall at close range”.
Worryingly, the number of attacks are also increasing. In 2009, there were fewer than 750 reported cases of laser attacks on civilian aircraft in the UK.
But in 2014, that figure had risen to 1,442.
And the safety expert said the number of cases being reported every year was just the "tip of the iceberg", Express reported.
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