The U.S. Navy released a video of its newest, most powerful laser in action, destroying a target
drone in mid-flight. The MK 2 MOD 0, also known as the Solid State Laser—Technology Maturation
Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD), is mounted on the amphibious ship USS Portland.
The LWSD is likely the most powerful and destructive laser to go to sea.
The LWSD was developed by the Office of Naval Research and Northrop Grumman, and fitted to
the amphibious transport dock USS Portland. LWSD has an output of 150 kilowatts, making
it up to five times more powerful than other Navy lasers. The Laser Weapon System, deployed on the
USS Ponce in 2014, had a reported output of 30 kilowatts, enough to shoot down small drones.
The Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy laser recently fitted to the guided
missile destroyer USS Dewey, is designed to shoot down drones and disrupt electro-optical sensors,
meaning it is probably about as powerful as LaWS. The MK 2 MOD 0 has an output of 150 kilowatts,
a huge leap in power output over previous laser weapons.
A video released by the Navy shows the laser destroying an unmanned drone in midair. A
150-kilowatt weapon, according to a report by the Lexington Institute, “would be capable of
addressing the threat posed by UAVs, small boats, rockets, artillery, and mortars.”
There’s a lot we don’t know about LWSD, particularly how far it can
engage targets. A similar system, the missile-based SeaRAM close-in weapon system,
can engage a similar target set to a range of about six miles. However,
unlike a missile, environmental factors such as rain, dust, smoke, or other airborne particles
will adversely impact a laser, reducing its ability to burn holes in targets over distance.
An amphibious transport ship might seem like a strange choice to install an aircraft-killing
laser, as the San Antonio-class ship typically carries several hundred U.S.
Marines for amphibious assault missions. According to Defense & Aerospace Report, the Navy chose USS
Portland because the San Antonio ships have empty space originally allocated for vertical
launch missile silos, weapon systems that were never actually fitted to the ship,
and that electrical cables already laid in the ship made fitting the laser easier.
LWSD is a technology demonstrator, but it's already catching up to missile-based systems
currently in service with the U.S. Navy. A laser weapon system theoretically can fire an unlimited
number of shots, while the similar SeaRAM system is limited to a magazine of eleven missiles.
SeaRAM missiles individually cost thousands of dollars apiece, while lasers cost the
amount of fuel necessary to power the laser weapon, often expressed as pennies per shot.
The Navy’s newest laser is not ready to replace weapons like SeaRAM. An operational weapon system
will need to be ruggedized to withstand a lifetime at sea, enduring near-constant
movement while the ship is underway. It will need protection from the bane of every seagoing warship
salt water and the corrosive effects of rust. LWSD is not powerful enough to destroy
larger manned aircraft and, most importantly, incoming anti-ship missiles. Such larger,
fast-moving targets require a more powerful laser to induce structural failure in a shorter time.
The Navy’s progress on laser weapon systems has been rapid, moving from just 30 kilowatts in 2014
to 150 kilowatts in 2020. It’s unusual for a weapon type to become five times more powerful
in the span of just six years, but there’s also been about five decades’ worth of research and
development behind this burst of progress. All of that effort is finally, at long last, paying off.
This content is created and maintained by a third party,
and imported onto this channel to help users provide their email addresses.
You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io