U.S.
Navy to deploy first warfare laser onboard USS Ponce this spring
US
Navy researchers made 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 onboard USS Ponce
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.
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
U.S. Navy’s laser weapon has progressed far enough that when it’s
deployed and tested on the USS Ponce, it can be controlled by a lone
sailor.
The U.S. Navy also plans to outfit one of its ships with an electromagnetic
rail gun within two years. Speaking to the Associated Press, Navy Capt.
Mike Ziv, a program manager at the Naval Sea Systems Command, said making
these technologies operational “fundamentally changes the way”
the United States conducts warfare.
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.
