A structured tissue belt assembly including a supporting layer, a non-woven web contacting layer, and one or more laser welds that attach the bottom surface of the web contacting layer to the top surface of the supporting layer. The structured tissue belt assembly allows for air flow in x, y and z directions. In exemplary embodiments, the structured tissue belt assembly has an embedment distance between the supporting layer and the web contacting layer of 0.05 mm to 0.60 mm and a peel force between the web contacting layer and the supporting layer of at least 650 gf/inch.