© ROOT-NATION.com - Use of content is permitted with a backlink.
The US Navy has tested laser weapons aboard an aircraft carrier, achieving absolute success in hitting unmanned targets. The mobile laser system, placed on a pallet, was chained directly to the deck of the ship, allowing the crew to destroy targets after a minimal training course.
In October last year, the defense company AeroVironment conducted operational tests of the laser system on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77). These tests demonstrated the potential of warships to significantly enhance drone defense in the near term. The company disclosed the details of the operation in a recent publication authored by Mary Clum and John Garrity. The one-day experiment proved that the integration of laser systems can be carried out in a short time without the need for complex shipyard work.
The maneuvers used AeroVironment’s Locust system, which was deployed in a simplified, temporary manner. Instead of stationary installation, the equipment was simply placed on the flight deck, secured with chains. This solution allowed the engineers to instantly prepare the weapon for inspection without making any structural changes to the ship’s design. According to the developers, this modular deployment method avoids the traditional obstacles associated with the introduction of the latest weapons. Usually, such processes require significant financial investments, long time and decommissioning of the ship, while Locust was delivered, installed and tested within one day. In addition, this arrangement means that there is no need to send the ship to a dry dock for modernization or repair – the laser unit can be easily replaced or dismantled as needed.
An important aspect of the testing was the speed of mastering the system by personnel. AeroVironment noted that sailors who had no previous experience with beam weapons learned how to track and destroy targets after an extremely short briefing. The manufacturer assured that the operators needed only a few tens of minutes of explanation to start acting effectively. Within an hour of starting to work with the system, they were successfully hitting airborne targets. During the tests, the system demonstrated one hundred percent efficiency, which confirms the readiness of existing crews to use such technologies without the need for long-term training.
The preparatory phase included the technical adaptation of Locust to marine conditions. AeroVironment specialists improved the electronic stabilization to ensure that the system would work during pitching and rolling. However, the tests required certain compromises: due to the location of the laser, the aircraft carrier was forced to temporarily suspend standard flight operations. After the tests were completed, the equipment was dismantled to return the ship to normal operations. This indicates certain limitations of temporary installation schemes, because in real combat, threats from drones arise suddenly, and there may not be time to stop other processes.
The company noted that these shortcomings can be eliminated by placing the system in other areas of the ship or developing designs for permanent duty. The Locust laser is suitable for use not only on aircraft carriers but also on other types of warships. Such weapons are attracting more and more attention around the world as an effective means of combating drones due to their low cost of operation and high accuracy, although their mass adoption is slower than expected. Power supply remains a key challenge, although large ships are able to meet such needs. The pace of adaptation is also affected by development time and technical barriers. A few years ago, the US Navy called for a pragmatic approach to laser integration. Whether solutions like Locust will become standard issue weapons or remain only an interim option will be shown by further tests and practical application experience.
Read also:
- Weapons of Ukraine’s Victory: FP-1 – A Drone Capable of Reaching Moscow
- Fighter vs Drone: Video Shows Belgian F-16s Testing New Counter-UAV Weapon