The US Navy is planning to equip a destroyer with a laser system by 2021

May 30, 2019

The Verge – The US military is increasingly looking to use lasers on the battlefield, and a new report suggests that the Navy is planning to equip an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer with a HELIOS laser defense system in 2021.

The Navy’s director of surface warfare, Rear Admiral Ron Boxall, told Defense News that the service is planning to install the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance system on the USS Preble by 2021. It will replace an existing defensive platform called the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) system, which was designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles and other threats before they reach a ship.

Read the full article