A US Navy warship operating in the Gulf of Aden
successfully fired on a floating target with a high-energy laser weapon system.
The ship in question is the US Navy ship, USS Portland which is currently
deployed to the Middle East as part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group.
The US Navy announced on December 15, the San Antonio class amphibious transport
dock ship tested a laser weapon by shooting at a floating target.
The service claims that the laser weapon system, seen as the “most powerful one” to be deployed
on an operational vessel, can be used against potential targets like bomb-laden drone boats
operated by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
The weapon, LWSD or Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) Mk2 Mod 0
is developed by Northrop Grumman.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why a high-energy laser weapon test
from USS Portland is a crucial step? Let's get started
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According to the US Navy’s Middle East-based 5th fleet, Portland’s laser weapon
“engaged” the training target during the course of the demonstration. It did not specify the
extent of damage incurred by the target or if it was destroyed as a result of the firing.
According to a US Navy release on the demonstration in the Gulf of Aden,
“The LWSD is considered a next-generation follow-on to the Laser Weapon System (LaWS)
that afloat forward staging base USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15)
tested for three years while operating in the Middle East,”
The release said, “The region’s geography,
climate, and strategic importance offer a unique environment for technology innovation,”
Capt. Karrey Sanders, then the commanding officer of USS Portland said, "By conducting advanced at
sea tests against UAVs and small crafts, we will gain valuable information on the capabilities
of the solid-state laser weapons system demonstrator against potential threats,"
The new LWSD, Sanders added, "is a unique capability the Portland gets to test
and operate for the Navy while paving the way for future weapons systems."
He stated further that "with this new advanced capability,
we are redefining war at sea for the Navy."
The weapon is developed for the US Navy as part of the Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation
(SSL-TM) program and is a 150-kilowatt class laser weapon.
The weapon is designed as a close-in defense system
for helping in countering the threats posed by unmanned aircraft and small boat swarms
LWSD Mk2 Mod 0, was received by the USS Portland in late 2019.
It was first tested by the vessel in May 2020 to shoot down a small drone in the Pacific Ocean.
It can also be used as a surveillance system owing to its full-motion video cameras which are
otherwise used by the weapon platform for detecting and tracking targets for the laser.
Lasers are silent, invisible and the speed of light enables them to hit their targets
almost instantaneously. Laser weapons also don’t need to carry
ammunition like traditional systems and hence they will be able to take out a
much larger number of threats constrained only by the power supply limit of the platform.
This is pretty significant as traditional weapons can run out of ammunition when
encountering a large number of incoming threats and need to be reloaded amidst a raging battle.
The cost is also expected to be much lesser compared to traditional weapons.
While laser weapons are not “kinetic" in nature, even a weak laser is capable of disrupting the
optical guidance systems of incoming missiles and drones. Powerful laser weapons can further destroy
a missile’s flight control fins and can also thermally set off their warheads.
Laser technology is still relatively new and scientists and engineers are working round the
clock to master it. There are many challenges when it comes to using the laser for combat usages.
For lasers to work efficiently over long distances,
they require large power sources. They may also suffer a reduction of power
in a hazy atmosphere and may cause thermal issues which require cooling.
Some of the issues have been sorted to an extent , but more needs to be taken care of.
The American military’s tryst with laser weapons is not new.
In 2010, the US Air Force mounted and fired off a
megawatt-class chemical laser from a modified Boeing 747. T
On April 23, 2019, the U.S Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Self-Protect
High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD)
Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Program successfully achieved a major goal.
A laser developed as part of the program had shot down several air-launched missiles in flight.
It is clear that lasers will have a significant part to play in future
combat and they are becoming reality much faster than what we could imagine a decade earlier.
As evident, the US military is putting a lot of effort
into Laser weapons and slowly by surely the technology is being optimized for warfighters.