U.S. Navy to deploy first ship-based laser weapon

The U.S. Navy is taking a leap into the future, as they announced yesterday plans to install the first laser weapon on one of their ships.

The Laser Weapons System (LaWS), developed by the Office of Naval Research's Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation Program, is scheduled to be installed on the USS Ponce — an Austin-class amphibious transport dock — sometime in the next year and a half. It is designed to direct a high-powered laser against any incoming threat to the ship, such as a missile, drone, or even small boats.

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"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," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, according to a Navy statement.

"Our conservative data tells us a shot of directed energy costs under $1," Klunder added. "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 low cost of using the weapon is due to the fact that it uses electricity. So, as long as the ship's engine is running, the laser can fire. This 'solid-state' laser works by pumping energy into the atoms of a crystal (as opposed to a liquid or gas), exciting those atoms and causing them to emit light. This light is then focused into a beam. Pump enough energy into the beam and the results can be quite spectacular (and destructive).

According to the U.S. Navy fact-sheet, LaWS has four different 'modes' of use. It can project a visible laser beam as a simple warning to any incoming potential threat. It can act as an infrared target-assist for heat-guided missiles, effectively 'painting' the target with a heat signature for the missile to home in on. It can destroy the sensitive optics of a missile or surveillance drone, or it can go one step further and destroy the incoming threat by burning it out of the sky.

The U.S. Navy also released a video of showing tests of the system against a flying drone, as well as video animation of the system in action:

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"The future is here," said Peter A. Morrision, program officer for the Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation Program, according to the Navy statement. "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."

(Photo and video courtesy: John F. Williams/U.S. Navy and U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research)

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