a laser weapon is a directed energy weapon based on lasers after decades of r d as of january 2020
directed energy weapons including lasers are still at the experimental stage and it remains to be
seen if or when they will be deployed as practical high performance military weapons atmospheric
thermal blooming has been a major problem still mostly unsolved and worsened if there is fog
smoke dust rain snow smog foam or purposely dispersed obscurant chemicals in the air
essentially a laser generates a beam of light which needs clear air or a vacuum to work
without thermal blooming laser and other directed energy weapons have been a staple in science
fiction since their inception however the us navy warship has successfully tested a new high-energy
laser weapon that can destroy aircraft and drones mid-flight the us navy says a statement released
on friday by u.s pacific fleet public affairs included footage of the moment uss portland
successfully disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle with a solid state laser the technology maturation
laser weapon system demonstrator lwsd was developed by the office of naval research
the laser test was carried out on may 16th in the pacific the navy said without giving
a specific location the post on twitter shows the laser emanating from the deck of the warship
while a second clip shows what appears to be a drone burning
the navy has the mission of securing american interests on the ocean otherwise known as most
of the planet here are seven weapons that help them fight battles across the globe
number one tomahawk land attack missile the tomahawk land attack missile tlam is a long-range
all-weather jet-powered subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the
united states navy and royal navy in ship and submarine-based land attack operations
at 569 thousand dollars apiece tomahawks are expensive cruise missiles that pack a huge punch
they fly at 550 miles per hour and have a maximum range between 700 and 1350 nautical miles
depending on which version of the missile is used they can carry either 166 bomblets
a 1000 pound conventional warhead or the w80 nuclear warhead with a 5 to 150 kt
yield the block 4 tomahawk missiles can even be reprogrammed in flight to hit different targets
designed at apl jhu it was initially produced in the 1970s by general dynamics as a medium to long
range low altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform the missile's modular
design accommodates a wide variety of warhead guidance and range capabilities at least six
variants and multiple upgraded versions have been introduced since then including air sub and ground
launch variants and conventional and nuclear armed ones as of 2019 only non-nuclear c launch
variants assembled by raytheon are currently in service number two mk-48 heavyweight torpedo
the mark 48 and its improved advanced capability adcap variant are american heavyweight submarine
launch torpedoes they were designed to sink deep diving nuclear-powered submarines and
high-performance surface ships the mk-48 heavy torpedo has 650 pounds of high explosives
packed into its warhead it could swim at 28 knots for more than 5 miles to reach its target
homing in on it with an advanced sonar system the mod 7 version has new sonar and guidance for
better engaging targets in both deep and literal waters while getting past enemy countermeasures
number 3 trident 2 ballistic missile the ugm-133a trident ii or trident d5
is a submarine-launched ballistic missile slbm built in sunnyvale california and deployed with
the american and british navies it was first deployed in march 1990 and remains in service
the trident ii strategic weapon system is an improved slbm with greater accuracy
payload and range than the earlier trident c4 it is a key element of the u.s strategic
nuclear triad and strengthens u.s strategic deterrence deployed aboard ohio-class ballistic
missile submarines each trident 2 can carry 14 independently targeted nuclear warheads
the warheads can be the w76 with a yield of 100 kt or the w88 which yields a 475 kt explosion
the submarines were built to carry 24 each the number of nuclear warheads on a trident 2 was
limited to 8 and the number of missiles on each submarine was limited to 20 by nuclear treaties
number 4 standard missile the standard missile has a boring name but awesome capabilities it's
a family of missiles that are primarily for shooting down planes and helicopters but can
also attack ships cruise missiles and ballistic missiles one even took out a satellite currently
different missiles are needed for different missions the sm-2 can [ __ ] an enemy ship
while the sm-3 focuses on ballistic missiles the youngest member of the family may change that
the sm-6 has successfully engaged crews and ballistic missiles and may be tested
against surface ships in the future number 5 mk 50 advanced lightweight torpedo the mark 50 torpedo
is a u.s navy advanced lightweight torpedo for use against fast deep diving submarines the mk-50 can
be launched from all anti-submarine aircraft and from torpedo tubes aboard surface combatant ships
the mk-50 was intended to replace the mk-46 as the fleet's lightweight torpedo instead
the mark 46 will be replaced with a mark 54 lht the torpedo's stored chemical energy propulsion
system uses a small tank of sulfur hexafluoride gas which is sprayed over a block of solid lithium
which generates enormous quantities of heat which eventually generates steam the steam propels the
torpedo in a closed rankine cycle supplying power to a pump jet this propulsion system
offers the very important deep water performance advantage in that the combustion products sulfur
and lithium fluoride occupy less volume than the reactants so the torpedo does not have to force
these out against increasing water pressure as it approaches a deep diving submarine
while the mk50 is much lighter than the mk48 above it still hits with an impressive 100 pound
warhead and can swim at a blistering 40 knots designed to chase down and destroy double hull
nuclear submarines the mk-50 was created to get past torpedo countermeasures and kill the enemy
even in shallow water number 6 laser weapon system yes it's exactly what it sounds like
already deployed aboard the uss ponce the navy's laser weapon system concentrates light into a fine
point heating a target until it burns or explodes so far the laser has only been used in tests
but the crew of the uss ponce is allowed to use the laser to defend the ship from actual threats
the laser can fire at different targets in rapid succession since shots cost less than a dollar
each double tapping is probably fine number 7 railgun like the laser above the railgun
is currently serving on only one navy ship the usns millinocket carries the prototype weapon
essentially a cannon that uses magnets instead of chemical propellants to fire around over 110
nautical miles because the round is moving so fast it can bust bunkers and other targets without the
need for explosives also the railgun is expected to be able to engage missiles speed boats and
aircraft at a fraction of the cost of other weapons thanks for watching and don't forget to
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