The Office of Naval Research and Northrop Grumman are developing a sea-based laser weapon that increases fivefold the power of the directed-energy system currently deployed in the Arabian Gulf.
The Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) being developed by ONR and Northrop will have 150 kilowatts of power, a significant increase over the 30-kilowatt Laser Weapon System (LaWS) deployed aboard the Afloat Forward Staging Base Ponce (ASFB(I)-15) in the Arabian Gulf since 2014.
The higher power will allow the new laser to engage surface and air targets, like small boats and drones, at greater ranges than the LaWS, according to Ronald Flatley, the Solid-State Laser-Technology Maturation program officer for ONR's Air Warfare and Weapons Department.
"The LWSD will be used to demonstrate the capability to effectively engage surface and air threats, defeating them at ranges and rates that significantly surpass what LaWS on the Ponce can achieve today," Flatley wrote in a Dec. 9 email to Inside the Navy.
The new system will be able to track and identify targets at ranges "measured in miles," according to Flatley, and will demonstrate the ability to protect Navy ships "at tactically relevant ranges."
Northrop is responsible for building the "working heart of LWSD," the tactical core laser module, according to Guy Renard, deputy director of directed energy at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. The module is comprised of the beam director, the laser, targeting and tracking systems, and fire control, Renard wrote in a Nov. 28 email to ITN.
"As ONR's LWSD prime contractor, Northrop Grumman will integrate multiple fiber lasers to achieve the required output power levels," he wrote. "Another challenge is designing and packaging the beam director so that it will operate reliably in the maritime environment."
ONR, meanwhile, oversees the program and is responsible for integrating the laser with the supporting components like power and cooling systems. ONR also does all the testing of the system, according to Renard.
The Navy is planning to conduct land-based tests of the LWSD in fiscal year 2017, with the goal of transitioning to sea-based tests in FY-18, according to Flatley. The laser passed its preliminary design review this past July, Renard said.
The FY-18 demonstration will be done with the laser integrated onto the Navy's Self-Defense Test Ship, a de-commissioned Spruance-class destroyer used by the service for various tests. Flatley said the Navy has not determined what will follow after the sea-based tests.
"Currently no decisions have been made to integrate or operate the LWSD on an existing Navy ship after 2018," he wrote. "The LWSD would need to undergo modifications appropriate to a specific class or type of ship before it could be integrated, certified and fielded operationally."
Last year, however, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the service was planning to start a program of record for directed energy weapons in FY-18. During a July 2015 industry conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Mabus said he would issue guidance for the FY-18 program objective memorandum -- the military's five-year spending plan -- that establishes a new program of record for directed-energy weapons. He said the new effort would focus on developing multiple kinds of platforms.
"The idea is to not concentrate on just one weapon system," Mabus said.
The Navy will release its FY-18 budget request some time in the spring. For now, directed energy remains a developmental effort.
"Senior Navy leadership continues to be supportive of accelerating the pace of learning and experimentation to evaluate the promise of laser weapons," Flatley said. "Systems like LaWS on the USS Ponce, combined with the new knowledge gained from the development and testing of the Laser Weapon System Demonstrator, significantly enhance the ability of the Navy to make decisions related to any future program of record."
