In February , the US Navy successfully tested its Layered Laser Defense ( LLD ) , an all - electric laser weapon contrive and built by Lockheed Marting , for the first clip . The aim of this weapon is to disable or even destruct incoming subsonic projectile object whether they are in the air or on the ocean .
The LLD can create visual dazzling , disable sensors , and can heat up a target to the pointedness of demolition . In the tests , conducted by the Office of Naval Research ( ONR ) at the US Army ’s High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico , the LLD track and shot down fix - wing airy fomite , quadcopters , and even gamey - speed trailer that were a proxy for sail missile moving tiresome than the f number of sound .
“ Innovative laser systems like the LLD have the potential to redefine the future of naval armed combat operations , ” Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin C. Selby say in astatement . “ They represent transformational capabilities to the fleet , address diverse scourge , and render precision engagements with a deep magazine to complement exist defensive systems and enhance sustained deadliness in high - strength struggle . ”
To be so effective , the gadget is equipped with specialized optics to both observe and stick to a butt , as well as focus the laser ray to various degrees of strength . The LLD also includes an artificial intelligence operation arrangement design to improve tracking and targeting .
This is not the firstlaser weaponcommissioned and tested by the Navy . The idea of such weapons has been around for decades . unmediated energy weapons have been an active area of enquiry for a sort of rationality . The weapons would n’t need ammunition , for object lesson , and the cost per engagement could be very low . peculiarly a system like the LLD , which is all - electric , so work as long as the ship it is install on has force . But optical maser weapons were n’t always this efficient .
“ The Navy performed like tests during the eighties but with chemical substance - based laser technology that pose significant logistics barriers for field in an operational environment . And , at last , those types of optical maser did not transition to the fleet or any other Service , ” Dr Frank Peterkin , ONR ’s directed energy portfolio coach , explain .
The LLD is more thick and effective than previously tested systems , which pretend it a more attractive weapon system than previous laser approaching . The team working on it believe it ’s a windowpane into the hereafter of weaponry . As it stands , there is presently no plan to field the LLD , however , there are plans tofield directed vigour weaponsas early as this year .
