Watch the US Navy's new laser knock drones out of the sky
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F-22Raptor
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Just wait until the railgun is tested at sea in a couple years.
shaheenmissile
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Then USA asks the rest of the world not to engage into a weapons race.
he-man
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I swear the US military is looking more sci-fi every day
Laser CIWS coming soon!
Specs??
Range and power.
AMDR
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Real Specs are probably classified.
This version in the Video is supposedly operating at 20-50 kW and can destroy boats and drones out to a few miles. Future versions (~2021) will be as much as 300 kW and will be able to destroy incoming anti-ship missiles.
The US army tested a C-RAM version of this with the phalanx radar in 2009. It successfully destroyed 2 incoming mortars.
he-man
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Impressive to say the least.
F-22Raptor
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Navy Tests Laser Weapon on Drones, Boats
The Navy is testing a new laser it is developing by using it on targets such as drones and small boats in the Persian Gulf.
Top Navy leaders say the laser could become a critical defense on a future generation of warships and offers great potential as a precise and economical weapon. A single shot from the laser could bring down a drone or blow up the engine of a small boat, officials said.
The prototype Laser Weapon System developed by the Office of Naval Research has proved cost-effective, and is less expensive to operate than many other systems, said Adm. Jon Greenert, chief of naval operations.
Each shot from the prototype laser was 59 cents, said Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research. Using a Standard Missile-2, a common surface-to-air weapon, would cost the Navy roughly $400,000.
The Navy recently finished its three-month test in the Persian Gulf on the USS Ponce, outfitted with the prototype laser. Navy officials said the Gulf’s heat, humidity and dust make it a difficult environment for naval vessels. Some researchers worried the conditions would hurt the laser’s performance.
“The only way to know if this is effective is to get it in the Gulf,” Adm. Greenert said.
As a result of the test, Navy officials said they planned to deploy the weapon into the Middle East for a year aboard the Ponce, allowing sailors to use the system to track potential threats and defend the ship.
“We have the authorities right now to use it in self-defense,” Adm. Klunder said. “If someone was coming to harm the USS Ponce, we could use this laser system on that threat and we would intend to do so.”
Jerry Hendrix, a defense expert at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank, said Navy lasers will be able to engage more targets for longer periods than current weapons, allowing them to perform effectively against an attack of multiple small boats at once—a technique Iranian forces train to use.
Adm. Klunder said that during the test sailors began using the system in ways its developers didn’t fully anticipate, such as for long-range surveillance. Sailors were able to identify approaching vessels at ranges “they have never dreamed of,” Adm. Klunder said. The range of surveillance capabilities is a closely guarded secret. “We were calling it a Hubble telescope on the water,” Adm. Klunder said.
Developing the prototype laser and installing it on the Ponce cost the Navy roughly $40 million, Adm. Klunder said.
Of course, for now a strike from a laser is far less powerful than a missile strike. Christopher Harmer, a naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said if a warship were attacked now in the Gulf by a drone or swarm of small boats, its guns and cannon would be the most effective defense.
But that is unlikely to be the case forever. “Naval guns are near the theoretical limit of their performance envelope now,” Mr. Harmer said. “We can only expect very minor improvements in the future, whereas with lasers we can expect significant improvements in range, lethality, and accuracy.”
Adm. Greenert said for the next generation of lasers, the Navy will build a more powerful weapon that will be able to take down more than drones and small craft.
Once the laser begins to replace missiles for some jobs, it could allow ships to stay out at sea for longer. The Navy now uses missiles for counter-air and counter-ballistic missile defenses. But warships can carry only a limited number and have to return to port to reload. The laser, Adm. Greenert said, has a nearly limitless number of shots.
Navy officials declined to say which companies would be bidding to develop the new, more powerful laser. Mr. Hendrix said Northrop Grumman Corp., BAE Systems PLC and Raytheon Co. are the likely competitors.
Mr. Hendrix said the current system is made up of six small lasers that form a roughly 30-kilowatt coherent beam. The next laser being developed by the Office of Naval Research will be 150 kilowatts, he said. “When that gets here,” he said, “it will be huge in its implications.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-tests-laser-weapon-on-drones-boats-1418182202
Current laser is at 30 kw, next laser being developed is 150 kw.
The Navy is testing a new laser it is developing by using it on targets such as drones and small boats in the Persian Gulf.
Top Navy leaders say the laser could become a critical defense on a future generation of warships and offers great potential as a precise and economical weapon. A single shot from the laser could bring down a drone or blow up the engine of a small boat, officials said.
The prototype Laser Weapon System developed by the Office of Naval Research has proved cost-effective, and is less expensive to operate than many other systems, said Adm. Jon Greenert, chief of naval operations.
Each shot from the prototype laser was 59 cents, said Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research. Using a Standard Missile-2, a common surface-to-air weapon, would cost the Navy roughly $400,000.
The Navy recently finished its three-month test in the Persian Gulf on the USS Ponce, outfitted with the prototype laser. Navy officials said the Gulf’s heat, humidity and dust make it a difficult environment for naval vessels. Some researchers worried the conditions would hurt the laser’s performance.
“The only way to know if this is effective is to get it in the Gulf,” Adm. Greenert said.
As a result of the test, Navy officials said they planned to deploy the weapon into the Middle East for a year aboard the Ponce, allowing sailors to use the system to track potential threats and defend the ship.
“We have the authorities right now to use it in self-defense,” Adm. Klunder said. “If someone was coming to harm the USS Ponce, we could use this laser system on that threat and we would intend to do so.”
Jerry Hendrix, a defense expert at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank, said Navy lasers will be able to engage more targets for longer periods than current weapons, allowing them to perform effectively against an attack of multiple small boats at once—a technique Iranian forces train to use.
Adm. Klunder said that during the test sailors began using the system in ways its developers didn’t fully anticipate, such as for long-range surveillance. Sailors were able to identify approaching vessels at ranges “they have never dreamed of,” Adm. Klunder said. The range of surveillance capabilities is a closely guarded secret. “We were calling it a Hubble telescope on the water,” Adm. Klunder said.
Developing the prototype laser and installing it on the Ponce cost the Navy roughly $40 million, Adm. Klunder said.
Of course, for now a strike from a laser is far less powerful than a missile strike. Christopher Harmer, a naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said if a warship were attacked now in the Gulf by a drone or swarm of small boats, its guns and cannon would be the most effective defense.
But that is unlikely to be the case forever. “Naval guns are near the theoretical limit of their performance envelope now,” Mr. Harmer said. “We can only expect very minor improvements in the future, whereas with lasers we can expect significant improvements in range, lethality, and accuracy.”
Adm. Greenert said for the next generation of lasers, the Navy will build a more powerful weapon that will be able to take down more than drones and small craft.
Once the laser begins to replace missiles for some jobs, it could allow ships to stay out at sea for longer. The Navy now uses missiles for counter-air and counter-ballistic missile defenses. But warships can carry only a limited number and have to return to port to reload. The laser, Adm. Greenert said, has a nearly limitless number of shots.
Navy officials declined to say which companies would be bidding to develop the new, more powerful laser. Mr. Hendrix said Northrop Grumman Corp., BAE Systems PLC and Raytheon Co. are the likely competitors.
Mr. Hendrix said the current system is made up of six small lasers that form a roughly 30-kilowatt coherent beam. The next laser being developed by the Office of Naval Research will be 150 kilowatts, he said. “When that gets here,” he said, “it will be huge in its implications.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-tests-laser-weapon-on-drones-boats-1418182202
Current laser is at 30 kw, next laser being developed is 150 kw.
BestUsernameEver
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It's always cool when science fiction turns into science fact.
. One big generator to suply the LaWs, magnificent...
Superboy
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Because doubling the distance makes light energy decrease by four times, light energy dissipates very fast. Not very practical IMO. Missiles can hit hundreds of kilometers. Laser can hit maybe 50 km, tops. Good as a CIWS because light is fast.
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