Navy High Energy Laser Weapon System

Abstract

This paper will historically review and describe the Navy High Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS). Advances in anti‐ship cruise missiles (ASMs), which present the greatest challenge in surface ship self defense, are necessitating the development of significantly more sophisticated and expensive surface‐to‐air missiles in order to counter the threat. The next generation of ASMs, as represented by the French ANS, will be capable of skimming only meters above the sea surface at multi‐mach speeds, while performing evasive maneuvers during terminal run‐in. This type of threat has essentially eliminated naval gun systems from the role of ship self‐defense, and has significantly reduced the effectiveness of current missile systems. Under development for the past twenty years, the High Energy Chemical Laser appears to be a feasible solution to the ship self‐defense problem. Capable of operating effectively in all weather conditions except dense fog, a HELWS requires no conventional fire control solution, since it operates at the speed of light. Any target that can be tracked can be engaged. Furthermore, once the beam director is locked onto a target, the system is insensitive to target maneuvers. By tailoring the lase period to the threat, the effective Pk of an HELWS is essentially 1. Using chemical energy as a primary power source removes the requirement for additional costly and heavy power generation equipment aboard ship. In the context of the foregoing arguments, cost per kill becomes a fraction of the cost of a two‐round missile salvo. The technology required to field a shipboard HELWS has been demonstrated by the Navy Mid‐InfraRed Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL) and the Sea Lite Beam Director (SLBD). Its success in bringing down a Mach 2.2 Vandal missile in 1989 was dramatic proof of the effectiveness of such a system. Recent studies have shown that the MIRACL/SLBD can be repackaged as a HELWS to fit into the equivalent volume occupied by a 5“/54 Mk 45 gun mount and its associated magazine. Replacing the gun system with this HELWS package would result in a 15 percent reduction in weight and translate to a 5 percent improvement in ship stability because of the weight redistribution. The one remaining issue is an operational demonstration of the High Energy Laser Weapon System in a shipboard environment. The Navy is currently studying the possibility of conducting an advanced technology demonstration of a shipboard HELWS to begin in FY 95. Such a demonstration will be designed to resolve the remaining issues associated with using high energy lasers for self‐defense at sea.