The target drone used during the Navy’s test in New Mexico deploys its recovery parachute. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)
This report was updated 4/14/2022 at 3:05 pm ET to clarify what targets on which the laser system was tested.
WASHINGTON: The Navy’s primary research and development agency successfully tested an all-electric, high-energy laser, shooting down “a target representing a subsonic cruise missile in flight,” the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
The weapon, called the Layered Laser Defense, is built by Lockheed Martin and can be used to counter unmanned drones and fast-attack boats as well as provide tracking and identification capabilities through its high-resolution telescope.
The Office of Naval Research conducted the test in February at the Army’s High Energy Laser Systems test facility at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico but only announced the results this week.
“Innovative laser systems like the LLD have the potential to redefine the future of naval combat operations,” Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, the chief of ONR, said in a written statement. “They present transformational capabilities to the fleet, address diverse threats, and provide precision engagements with a deep magazine to complement existing defensive systems and enhance sustained lethality in high-intensity conflict.”
The Navy said that in the recent test the laser took out multiple targets in addition to the cruise missile representative, including quadcopter drones and other UAVs. It wasn’t immediately clear if the “red drone,” pictured above, was the UAV that played the role of the cruise missile as previously reported.
The Navy — and the Pentagon more broadly — has been increasingly interested in directed energy weapons in recent years. Lockheed, in addition to LLD, is also the prime contractor for another Navy laser weapon system under development dubbed HELIOS. Breaking Defense reported in January the company is preparing to install that weapon onboard a destroyer sometime in 2022.
One of the biggest benefits a directed energy weapon offers the Pentagon is the ability to defeat a cruise missile or aerial drone at a fraction of the cost that a traditional munition might cost. ONR notes that because LLD runs purely on electricity, the only consumable required to use it is fuel.
The Navy’s news comes same time that Israel announced their own successful directed energy test, which Breaking Defense reported today.
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