Fox News:

A salvo of incoming anti-ship cruise missiles, combined with aerial drone strikes and closer-in small boats attacking all at the same time — presents a scenario that could cause problems for U.S. Navy surface ships.

With this in mind, the Navy continues to fast-track laser weapons to further fortify its ship-based layered defenses and even launch offensive attacks when necessary. Progress has been fast-moving and promising for service weapons developers who seek lower-cost, precision defense options to support deck-mounted guns, ship-fired interceptor missiles and even ship-launched aircraft such as Osprey helicopters or fighter jets from carriers.

Laser weapons demonstrated an ability to destroy drones years ago, however, Navy officials have been working on “power-scaling,” electronics and fiber optics to engineer lasers capable of destroying incoming cruise missiles and other large threats; combining high-power laser beams can also introduce the promise of destroying multiple incoming attacks at one time.

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