I watched this video the other day that is saying the USS George Bush has a shipping container on the flight deck that has a laser weapon in it. It was supposedly put together quickly and that is why it is in a shipping container rather than incorporated into the ship's defense system. I don't remember the name of the contractor that built the system but it wasn't one of the big three.
Supposedly the nuclear power plant on the aircraft carrier is capable of supplying the power needed. They were touting that the system only uses $1.00 worth of electricity per shot. This is supposed to alleviate the use of high priced interceptors on cheap drones.
The laser will be used on close in drone swarms and the interceptors will be saved for ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles. Although I don't know of any interceptors that can take out hypersonics.
They did point out some of the pit falls, such as rain, fog, and other weather events and smoke that can affect the use of the laser.
One of the most interesting points that they made was that the laser is not a strictly kinetic kill but more of a burn to disable. They said it takes a dwell time of 2-5 seconds on the target to get a burn through to disable the flight.
That creates an interesting math problem. Although drones are slow flying devices, when you figure target acquisition time, target dwell time, and kill confirmation, how many drones will it take to overwhelm the system. When you figure that some of the newer Shaheed drones are faster, and you are looking at a close range situation, the math starts to look sketchy to me. It is also my understanding that the Persian Gulf region is prone to early morning fogs due to warm waters and cool nights.
It will be interesting to see if we hear anything about the laser weapon. My guess is that if it works at all it will be touted as a wonder weapon and if it doesn't work we won't hear anything about it. Unfortunately it is providing an excellent testing environment for further development.
It will develop into a tactics and counter tactics evolution.
Huntsville, Alabama
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