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U.S. Navy Destroyer Deploys ODIN Laser Directed-Energy Weapon System During Operation Epic Fury.
On 28 February 2026, imagery released by the United States Central Command showed a United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer launching RGM-109 Tomahawk missiles toward targets in Iran during Operation Epic Fury. The same footage appears to confirm operational deployment of the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy, linking a live combat strike with one of the Navy’s newest shipboard laser systems.
On 28 February 2026, footage and photographs released by US Central Command (CENTCOM) from Operation Epic Fury showed a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer launching RGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles toward targets in Iran. Close examination of CENTCOM’s imagery indicates that one of the destroyers in the carrier-led task group is fitted with the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) soft-kill laser system. This visual evidence connects a major real-world strike campaign against Iran with one of the US Navy’s newest directed-energy capabilities, highlighting how rapidly such systems are moving from trials into operational deployments. CENTCOM’s footage, offers a rare public glimpse of a shipborne laser integrated into the US layered air and missile defense and C4ISR architecture at a moment of heightened regional tension.
Imagery released by United States Central Command shows an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer launching RGM-109 Tomahawk missiles at Iran during Operation Epic Fury, alongside additional photos of the ODIN laser during 2020 testing at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren and operationally deployed aboard the USS Stockdale, illustrating the system’s transition from evaluation to frontline service (Picture Source: USN / U.S. CENTCOM/ Edited by Army Recognition Group)
In the publicly released image sequence, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG-111) is shown firing Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles from an undisclosed location in support of Operation Epic Fury, while operating alongside at least two aircraft carriers and other surface combatants. The same material reveals the distinctive ODIN installation mounted on the superstructure of at least one destroyer in this force, adding a visible laser soft-kill capability to a task group already equipped for long-range precision strike via Mk 41 vertical launch systems. At this stage, the US Navy has not reported or confirmed any combat use of ODIN during Operation Epic Fury, and there is no official indication that the system has been employed in engagement sequences during the strikes or subsequent Iranian responses. Its documented presence in CENTCOM’s own visual products nonetheless confirms that ODIN has been brought into theatre as part of the defensive toolset protecting high-value units and preserving the integrity of the carrier strike group’s kill chain.
ODIN, officially designated AN/SEQ-4, is a solid-state, shipborne laser system designed primarily as an optical dazzler to counter unmanned aerial systems and other electro-optical threats by degrading or disabling their sensors rather than physically destroying the platform. Developed under a rapid acquisition effort led by Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren and Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems, ODIN combines a steerable laser head with high-resolution electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) cameras, allowing operators to track a drone or other target and project an intense, tightly focused beam onto its imaging payload. US-based sources describe it as a relatively low-power system compared to emerging high-energy laser demonstrators, optimized for short-range engagements within the destroyer’s close-in defensive envelope, with effects tailored to saturate or damage EO/IR sensors. Integrated into the ship’s combat system architecture, ODIN provides a non-kinetic, reusable layer inside the layered defensive construct, contributing primarily to counter-UAS and counter-ISR missions within the broader framework of integrated air and missile defense (IAMD), while preserving finite missile and gun ammunition stocks.
The US Navy first installed ODIN on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105) in 2019, before expanding the fit to other Flight IIA destroyers, including USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and USS Spruance (DDG 111). These installations were conceived both as operational systems and as technology pathfinders, giving deployed surface combatants an organic counter-UAS capability while feeding operational data and fleet experience into an incremental, spiral development process supporting future higher-power naval laser programs. Imagery from recent years shows the ODIN turret replacing earlier sensor or legacy equipment positions on the forward superstructure, demonstrating that the system is compact enough to be retrofitted without major structural modifications and integrated into the ship’s combat system architecture. By 2025, the Navy had equipped multiple Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with ODIN, framing the capability as part of a broader directed-energy roadmap that also includes more powerful high-energy laser initiatives intended to counter cruise missiles and other complex aerial threats in future surface combatants.
The presence of a soft-kill laser like ODIN on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer deployed against Iran is notable in light of Tehran’s sustained investment in drones, loitering munitions, and cruise missiles for regional power projection and anti-access/area-denial effects. In a scenario where Iranian forces respond to Tomahawk strikes with swarms of reconnaissance UAVs or one-way attack drones, ODIN offers a means of imposing non-kinetic effects on the sensors of these platforms without expending expensive interceptor missiles or depleting close-in weapon system ammunition. It complements the destroyer’s layered defence, Standard and ESSM missiles at long and medium range, Rolling Airframe Missile and close-in guns at short range, by providing a deep-magazine option that can engage multiple targets so long as electrical power is available. By degrading the quality of hostile ISR feeds, disrupting targeting sensors, and extending sensor-to-shooter timelines, ODIN supports the ship’s battle-management role within the wider IAMD network and complicates efforts to build an accurate maritime picture around high-value units such as carriers and logistics vessels.
At the strategic level, deploying an ODIN-equipped destroyer as part of the naval contribution to Operation Epic Fury sends a signal about how the United States intends to manage the evolving threat environment in the Gulf and wider Middle East. The ongoing campaign brings together long-range bomber sorties, land-based missile launches, Tomahawk strikes from surface combatants, and other precision assets in a coordinated multi-domain effort to hit Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone infrastructure, and airfields. Within this context, fielding a shipborne laser in the same theatre underlines that US force protection for major operations now includes maturing directed-energy systems explicitly oriented toward countering unmanned platforms and precision-guided weapons, capabilities that have become central to Iran’s own military toolkit and those of its partners. The Navy’s decision to send ODIN into a high-threat environment where Iranian drones and missiles are expected to feature prominently suggests a level of confidence in the system’s reliability and its integration into the surface fleet’s C4ISR and IAMD constructs.
This deployment forms part of a wider contest over unmanned systems, strike weapons, and defensive countermeasures that now shapes security dynamics in the Gulf, the Red Sea, and adjacent maritime corridors. Iran and its partners have repeatedly used one-way attack drones and cruise missiles against critical infrastructure, regional adversaries and commercial shipping, while US and allied navies have invested heavily in intercepting these threats to protect sea lines of communication and maintain a coherent regional air picture. By placing ODIN alongside Tomahawk-armed destroyers and carrier air wings, the United States is effectively adding another tier to a coalition integrated air and missile defence architecture, one that emphasises lower per-shot costs and the ability to engage multiple targets rapidly. Over time, such deployments are likely to influence regional force development, encouraging some actors to harden or diversify their seekers and others to refine saturation tactics and attack geometries designed to challenge both hard-kill interceptors and soft-kill systems such as dazzlers and electronic warfare suites.
The appearance of an ODIN-equipped Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in CENTCOM’s own visual record of Operation Epic Fury is more than a technical curiosity in a single photograph; it marks the quiet entry of shipborne lasers into front-line operations against a state adversary as part of a standard carrier strike group loadout. Even without any declared combat use, the choice to send this capability into an environment where Iranian drones and missiles are central to the threat spectrum shows that directed-energy weapons are now being woven into everyday naval practice alongside Tomahawks, carrier aviation, and traditional surface-to-air missiles. For regional militaries, the image of USS Spruance launching cruise missiles while carrying a soft-kill laser encapsulates a new operational baseline at sea, where long-range precision strike, non-kinetic effects, and multilayered air and missile defence are expected to operate in concert within the same task group.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.