US Navy deploys new laser weapon in Persian Gulf: Official

WASHINGTON: A laser weapon deployed aboard the USS Ponce in the Gulf has performed beyond expectations in four months of operational testing, the chief of Navy research said on Wednesday, lifting hopes for a new US defense against cheap anti-ship arms.

Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, head of the Office of Naval Research, said the $40 million laser weapon was fully integrated into systems aboard the USS Ponce at the end of the summer for a year of testing.

"This is the first time in recorded history that a directed energy weapons system has ever deployed on anything," he said.

Dubbed LaWS (short for Laser Weapon System), the Department of Defense also released a video about the 30-kilowatt laser as it shot at targets, even taking down a small aerial drone in two seconds, frying its electronics and sending it plummeting into the sea before it had time to catch fire.



 

LaWS aboard USS Ponce. PHOTO: US NAVY

Another instance showed it targeting a hard-to-see rocket-propelled grenade aboard a small, distant attack boat, causing the device to detonate and send a spray of shrapnel across the water.

"We're not testing it any more. This is operational. It's on a ship in the Persian Gulf," Klunder said. "This isn't something we've got in a box we're saving for ... a special moment. They're using it every single day."

The deployment of the weapon comes as the Pentagon is concerned about losing the technological edge that has enabled it to rapidly overcome rivals on the battlefield for decades.

Many countries are developing precision munitions, long-range missiles and other systems to counter US’ superiority. China, Iran and other nations have developed accurate anti-ship missiles to force the US Navy to operate further from their shores.

The Navy laser, operated using what looks like a modified Playstation controller, lifts hopes for deploying a more powerful 100-150 kw system which would be capable of destroying a multimillion-dollar missile through a jolt of energy which would cost as little as a dollar.



 

Chief Fire Controlman Brett Richmond and Lt. j.g. Katie Woodard operate the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) installed aboard USS Ponce. PHOTO: US NAVY

The US military hopes this system can give it an asymmetric edge in countering anti-ship threats.

The more powerful laser is under development and expected to be deployed on a ship by 2017, Klunder said, adding that if effective, it could be widely produced and deployed on ships.

Yet to see actual action

While the current laser aboard the Ponce has not yet engaged an actual threat to the vessel, it has been tested against the kind of targets it is expected to counter.

"That's all worked well. As a matter of fact, we've never missed," Klunder said. "If we have to defend that ship today, we will destroy a threat if it comes inbound."