US
Navy Leaders Announce Plans for Deploying Cost-Saving Laser Technology
on USS Ponce
Citing
a series of technological breakthroughs, Navy leaders announced plans
Apr. 8 at the Sea-Air-Space exposition to deploy for the first time
a solid-state laser aboard a ship in fiscal year 2014.
"Our directed energy initiatives, and specifically the solid-state
laser, are among our highest priority science and technology programs.
The solid-state laser program is central to our commitment to quickly
deliver advanced capabilities to forward-deployed forces," Chief
of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder said. "This capability
provides a tremendously affordable answer to the costly problem of defending
against asymmetric threats, and that kind of innovative approach is
crucial in a fiscally constrained environment."
The Laser
Weapon System (LaWS) temporarily installed aboard the guided-missile
destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105) in San Diego, Calif., is a technology
demonstrator built by the Naval Sea Systems Command from commercial
fiber solid state lasers, utilizing combination methods developed at
the Naval Research Laboratory. LaWS can be directed onto targets from
the radar track obtained from a MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon system
or other targeting source.
(U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)
The announcement
to deploy the laser onboars USS Ponce (AFSB[I] 15) comes as Navy researchers
continue to make significant progress on directed energy weapons, allowing
the service to deploy a laser weapon on a Navy ship two years ahead
of schedule. The at-sea demonstration in FY 14 is part of a wider portfolio
of near-term Navy directed energy programs that promise rapid fielding,
demonstration and prototyping efforts for shipboard, airborne and ground
systems.
"Our conservative data tells us a shot of directed energy costs
under $1," Klunder said. "Compare that to the hundreds of
thousands of dollars it costs to fire a missile, and you can begin to
see the merits of this capability."
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval Sea Systems Command recently
performed demonstrations of high-energy lasers aboard a moving surface
combatant ship, as well as against remotely piloted aircraft. Through
careful planning of such demonstrations and by leveraging investments
made through other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, researchers
have been able to increase the ruggedness, power and beam quality of
lasers, more than doubling the range of the weapons.
"The future is here," said Peter A. Morrision, program officer
for ONR's Sold-State Laser Technology Maturation Program. "The
solid-state laser is a big step forward to revolutionizing modern warfare
with directed energy, just as gunpowder did in the era of knives and
swords."
Video
of the demonstration of the high-energy laser aboard a moving surface
combatant ship and against remotely piloted aircraft
Officials
consider the solid-state laser a revolutionary technology that gives
the Navy an extremely affordable, multi-mission weapon with a deep magazine
and unmatched precision, targeting and control functions. Because lasers
run on electricity, they can be fired as long as there is power and
provide a measure of safety as they don't require carrying propellants
and explosives aboard ships.
Lasers complement kinetic weapons to create a layered ship defense capability,
providing improved protection against swarming small boats and unmanned
aircraft at a fraction of the cost of traditional weapons.
The advancing technology gives sailors a variety of options they never
had before, including the ability to control a laser weapon's output
and perform actions ranging from non-lethal disabling and deterrence
all the way up to destruction.
"We expect that in the future, a missile will not be able to simply
outmaneuver a highly accurate, high-energy laser beam traveling at the
speed of light," Klunder said.
Following the USS Ponce demonstration, the Navy and DoD will continue
to research ways to integrate affordable laser weapons into the fleet.
