The amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD-27) conducts a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration on a static surface training target on Tuesday while sailing in the Gulf of Aden
- The US Navy’s USS Portland test-fired a laser weapon against a floating target in the Middle East.
- The test follows another from May 2020, when the laser was used to disable a flying drone.
- Developing laser weapons is a key area of research for teams across the military.
A US Navy warship operating in the Gulf of Aden successfully fired on a floating target with a high-energy laser weapon system this week, the sea service revealed Wednesday.
The test, which the Navy carried out Tuesday, was a demonstration of the Solid State Laser – Technology Maturation Laser Weapons System Demonstrator (LWSD) Mark 2 MOD 0 aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Portland. The service is testing whether mounted lasers can defend ships from small boats and even unmanned vessels.
Vessels in the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters face growing threats from not just manned watercraft but also unmanned systems, such as the drone boats packed with explosives used by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, as The Associated Press has noted in its reporting.
Ships could also face aerial threats from flying drones. The high-energy laser weapon system on USS Portland was first tested in May 2020, when it was used successfully against an unmanned aerial vehicle while sailing in the Pacific.
The laser weapon system demonstrator, or LWSD, aboard USS Portland, is a more powerful follow-on system that builds on lessons the Navy learned from previously testing the 30-kilowatt laser-weapon system, or LaWS, aboard the afloat forward staging base USS Ponce in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
“By conducting advanced at sea tests against UAVs and small crafts, we will gain valuable information on the capabilities of the solid-state laser weapons system demonstrator against potential threats,” Capt. Karrey Sanders, then the commanding officer of USS Portland, said after the 2020 test.
The new LWSD, Sanders added, “is a unique capability the Portland gets to test and operate for the Navy while paving the way for future weapons systems.”
He added that “with this new advanced capability, we are redefining war at sea for the Navy.”
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