LaWS on the USS Dewey (via US Navy & Raytheon)
It was only roughly 20 years ago that the US Navy was still using WW2 era Iowa-class battleships outfitted with 16 inch guns (the USS Missouri and Wisconsin fired their guns onto land targets in the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991) to engage in conflicts around the globe. Fast-forward a few decades and those ships and guns have been replaced by guided missile destroyers outfitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles, anti-missile Gatling cannons and 127mm anti-ship guns (to name a few). The US Navy is looking to add to that arsenal with the incorporation of high-powered ship-borne lasers. Designated as LaWS (Laser Weapons Systems), the solid-state system, designed by Raytheon and US Navy researchers, is actually comprised of 6 industrial-use high-powered optical fiber lasers which is capable of destroying incoming targets (everything from drones to missiles) from a considerable distance (the actual distance is classified). The system was tested in 2012 aboard the USS Dewey (guided missile destroyer) where it successfully destroyed four surveillance drones off the coast of San Diego. Navy personnel were able to track the inbound UAVs using the ships MK-15 Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapons System) surface-mode sensor suite (electro-optical for tracking and radio frequency sensors for range data) to guide the laser onto the targets. The Navy was so impressed that they’ve ramped up their development of the LaWS a full 2 years ahead of schedule and are now looking to field test the system over a 1-year period aboard the USS Ponce (amphibious transport dock) which is slated to deploy in the Persian Gulf/Strait of Hormuz area in 2014. While some speculate the deployment of the LaWS in the Persian Gulf is a warning to Iran to curb its nuclear program, others view it as a new weapon to combat China’s increase in cheap drone manufacturing.
DSB report notes
In a recent DoD Defense Science Board report, drones have become the future of warfare around the globe with the US as the dominant power in UAVs and China fast becoming a close second. While China’s drones haven’t yet caught up to the sophistication (technology wise) of their US counterparts but they are cheaper to manufacture which has interested foreign buyers and raised the concerns of America’s military. According to retired Chinese generals (interviewed on Chinese CCTV) their drone technology currently lags behind the US by only 5 years but they’re roughly 5 to 10 times cheaper to build over the US’s 5 to 10 million a pop per drone. While China’s cheap UAVs aren’t turning any heads in tech rich countries such as Japan, South Korea or Taiwan they are catching the eyes of Middle Eastern and African countries which could put ‘good enough’ (as opposed to top of the line) drone technology into countries not on good terms with the US such as North Korea and Iran or even terrorist organizations. China is also developing new UAV designs that look strikingly similar to those fielded by the US such as the Pterodactyl (Predator), Soaring Dragon (Global Hawk) and Dark Sword (Reaper) that have the same basic functions as their American counterparts such as surveillance and strike capabilities. With a price-tag of 1 million US for the Soaring Dragon (roughly 30 million for the Global Hawk) it’s easy to see why the American military is concerned and looks to pit the US and China in a new global arms race concerning UAVs instead of nuclear missiles.
C
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