The US Navy reveals that the USS Ponce (LPD-15), an amphibious transport that is currently sailing in the Persian Gulf has been testing and using the US Navy’s latest Laser Weapon System (LaWS) since August 2014. The system’s primary purpose is to threaten the enemy with extremely bright light, scrambling their optic sensors, destroying small boats and pesky drones.The strength of the shot can be adjusted from non-lethal bright light to a hazardous beam that can destroy small boats or drones. The Iranian Navy is known to be banking on a fleet of small boats to harass and swarm the American warships in event of a shooting war at Straits of Hormuz.
US Navy spokesman, Vice Admiral John Miller said it will take some time before LaWS becomes more commonplace.
Reason why it is deployed in the Persian Gulf is because the US Navy wants to know how the system will fare in a tough real world conditions – dust, heat and other hazards that can lead to system failure. The prototype focuses six solid state commercial welding lasers onto a single spot and according to Congressional Research Service, costs a dollar per shot. New York based L-3 Communcations Holdings LLC and Pennsylvania State University’s Electro Optics Center are the providers of components and engineering support. A more powerful variant will be fielded in 2021 if everything goes well.
Reportedly, the system has costed the US Navy US$40 million over seven years of development.
Source: Bloomberg
Image credit: John F. Williams/US Navy
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