US Navy buys first laser weapons

[Haijun watcher]

Vice.com

The US Navy Bought Its First Big Laser Cannon
New, drone-frying weapon could go to sea in 2020.

David Axe
Feb 7 2018, 5:00am

In late January, the US Navy dropped $150 million on a pair of new laser cannons. One of the so-called "High Energy Lasers," built by Lockheed Martin, is destined for testing on land.

The other is going to sea aboard an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer as early as 2020, potentially making it the world's first large, war-ready "directed-energy" weapon.

Lockheed's laser reportedly draws as much as 150 kilowatts of power per shot�enough to fry boats and unmanned aerial vehicles. Upgrading the laser to 300 kilowatts, thus boosting its range and power, could allow it to also destroy fast-moving, incoming missiles before they can strike their targets.

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[Haijun watcher]

Navy Recognition

Lockheed Martin to Deliver Integrated Laser Weapon Systems to U.S. Navy

March 2018
Posted On Thursday, 01 March 2018 18:12

The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $150 million contract, with options worth up to $942.8 million, for the development, manufacture and delivery of two high power laser weapon systems, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-Unmanned Aerial System (counter-UAS) capabilities, by fiscal year 2020. With the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) system, Lockheed Martin will help the Navy take a major step forward in its goal to field laser weapon systems aboard surface ships.

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[Haijun watcher]

Defense News

Yemen coast a �live fire laboratory� for firing lasers
By: Todd South ? 6 hours ago

Each of the military branches researches, tests and deploys various laser systems. But right now, a real battlespace is hosting a showcase of laser threats and countermeasures off the coast of Yemen.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller told congressional representatives during a budget hearing this week that the area is a hot zone for the use of both offensive and defense laser systems.

Neller�s comments came following remarks made by Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson, who discussed with the House Appropriations Committee the possibility of a �family of lasers� portfolio to help combat smaller threats to Navy ships, such as air and seaborne drones.

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[Haijun watcher]

National Interest

The U.S. Navy Wants to Add the Ultimate Weapon: 'Laser Guns'?
The National Interest
�July 8, 2019
Kris Osborn
Security,
Game changer?
The U.S. Navy Wants to Add the Ultimate Weapon: 'Laser Guns'?
(Washington, D.C.) If swarms of enemy small attack boats armed with guns and explosives approached a Navy ship, alongside missile-armed drones and helicopters closing into strike range, ship commanders would instantly begin weighing defensive options - to include interceptor missiles, electronic warfare, deck-mounted guns or area weapons such as Close-in-Weapons System.
Now, attacks such as these will also be countered with laser weapons being added to the equation, bringing new dimensions to maritime warfare on the open sea.
By 2021, U.S. Navy destroyers will be armed with new ship-fired lasers able to sense and incinerate enemy drones, low-flying aircraft and small boat attacks -- all while firing at the speed of light.
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[pgollin]

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Is a "laser cannon" an old 24-pounder where the fuze is replaced by a laser ?

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[Admiral John Byng]

I was once treated to an ear-bashing by a member of the Royal Horse Artillery because I called the 13pdr "cannons". They are guns!

Lasers are beam weapons so maybe they should be called joists?

[Haijun watcher]

Military.com

The Navy Has Installed the First Drone-Stopping Laser on a Destroyer
21 Feb 2020
Military.com | By Hope Hodge Seck
The newest weapon in the Navy's arsenal is a laser dazzler that can stymie enemy drones threatening surface ships. And now it's installed aboard an active destroyer.
The system was installed aboard the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Dewey in November, but not announced until this week, officials with Naval Sea Systems Command told Military.com.
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[Haijun watcher]

Back with a vengeance after being otherwise occupied during this crazy pandemic:

MINTFO

May 23, 2020
US Navy ship conducts Laser Weapon System Demonstrator Test
News Sourced

Mintfo

PACIFIC OCEAN (May 16, 2020) The amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) conducts a Solid State Laser � Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) MK 2 MOD 0 test. LWSD is a high-energy laser weapon system demonstrator developed by the Office of Naval Research and installed on Portland for an at-sea demonstration. LWSD�s operational employment on a Pacific Fleet ship is the first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser. (U.S. Navy photo)

LWSD is a high-energy laser weapon system demonstrator developed by the Office of Naval Research and installed on Portland for an at-sea demonstration. LWSD�s operational employment on a Pacific Fleet ship is the first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser. The laser system was developed by Northrup Grumman, with full System and Ship Integration and Testing led by NSWC Dahlgren and Port Hueneme.
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[Haijun watcher]

US Naval Institute

Report on Navy Laser, Railgun and Gun-Launched Guided Projectiles
January 13, 2021 5:40 PM

The following is the Jan. 12, 2020, Congressional Research Service report, Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Gun-Launched Guided Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress
From the report

Three new ship-based weapons being developed by the Navy�solid state lasers (SSLs), the electromagnetic railgun (EMRG), and the gun-launched guided projectile (GLGP), also known as the hypervelocity projectile (HVP)�could substantially improve the ability of Navy surface ships to defend themselves against surface craft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and eventually anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs).

The Navy has been developing SSLs for several years, and in 2014 installed on a Navy ship its first prototype SSL capable of countering surface craft and UAVs. The Navy since then has been developing and installing additional SSL prototypes with improved capability for countering surface craft and UAVs. Higher-power SSLs being developed by the Navy are to have a capability for countering ASCMs. Current Navy efforts to develop SSLs include

the Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) effort;
the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN);
the Surface Navy Laser Weapon System (SNLWS) Increment 1, also known as the high-energy laser with integrated optical dazzler and surveillance (HELIOS); and
the High Energy Laser Counter-ASCM Program (HELCAP).
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