The Pearl Harbor-based USS Preble will be the first destroyer to be equipped with a high-energy laser to counter surface craft and unmanned aerial systems, according to a published report, with the Navy planning to one day use the powerful light beams to defend against Chinese or Russian cruise missiles.
Rear Adm. Ronald Boxall, the Navy’s director of surface warfare, told Defense News that the Preble will be outfitted in 2021 with the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical- dazzler With Surveillance system, or HELIOS.
I noted the plan to do this. Although Preble and not Truxton is getting the laser. So something changed from then.
And we've done this before as a test with Ponce in the Persian Gulf.
And keep in mind that a ship needs a lot of electricity to use these weapons.
I assume the Zumwalt-class will get these weapons, too.
