US navy struggles to deploy effective laser defenses amid urgent need for cost-effective solutions

The US Navy's efforts to develop practical anti-air defenses using pure energy are facing significant challenges, despite intense effort. Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, commander of US Navy Pacific surface warships, expressed frustration with the slow progress. He identified the lack of a commercial market for powerful lasers capable of intercepting missiles from miles away as the top obstacle.

With the growing threat of cheaper, deadlier offensive missiles and armed drones, the need for more affordable and versatile defenses has become more pressing. Examples of these threats include the anti-shipping campaign in the Red Sea and the aerial attack on Israel on April 16, Caliber.Az reports via Defense One.

For over a decade, the Navy has deployed experimental and prototype directed-energy weapons, including eight warships equipped with the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN). This small laser blinds the sensors of incoming drones and missiles but struggles against fast-moving weapons or those lacking optical sensors.

"We'll continue operational deployments and provide key data to inform our defensive efforts for that," McLane stated.

The Navy has higher expectations for the 120-kilowatt High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS), although its performance since a 2022 deployment aboard the destroyer Preble has been underwhelming.

"We've tested it a few times. It hasn't turned out the way we want, yet," McLane admitted. "But the potential and the capability is impressive. It's going to be capable of counter-UAS, counter-ISR."

The Navy is also collaborating with the Office of the Secretary of Defense on a prototype 300-kilowatt laser, with plans to test and develop it up to 500 kilowatts for advanced experimentation.

Additionally, the Office of Naval Research is working on a 300-kilowatt laser under the High Energy Laser Counter-ASCM Program, specifically designed to target anti-ship missiles. The Navy hopes to demonstrate this technology on land next year and potentially transfer it to ships.

The Navy is also considering testing METEOR, a high-powered microwave weapon that can defend a wider area, albeit at a shorter range, on its ships by 2026.

Despite these efforts, the Navy still has a long way to go before lasers can play a more regular role in ship defense. The challenge lies in integrating these systems to work together effectively against various threats.

"There's a lot of prototypes out there for both high-powered microwave and lasers," said William LaPlante, the Pentagon’s chief buyer. "Right now, the issue is partially the maturity, but partially the [concepts of operation] of how it would work in terms of how you would use a laser in conjunction with other things."

LaPlante emphasized that deploying new lasers and directed-energy weapons on ships is only the first step in making them effective. "They're not the only answer, and they're going to have to be part of a layered system of defenses."

McLane acknowledged that the Navy is starting to consider this approach. "We're still kind of with one piece of directed-energy equipment per ship as we're testing and learning. But I think in the next few years we should be able to get there."

For now, the military continues to rely on expensive missiles to counter inexpensive drones. As CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla pointed out in March, "What's worse than shooting a million-dollar missile at a $20,000 drone is that $20,000 drone hitting a $2 billion ship with 300 sailors on it."