--- title: "The Navy just installed a laser on a destroyer to counter incoming drones" description: "The USS Dewey is the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to receive the Navy's new Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) laser weapons system." date: "2020-02-21" modified: "2020-02-21" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "Senior Reporter" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-destroyer-laser-dewey-odin/" categories: - "Aircraft" - "Destroyers" - "Drones" - "Military Branches" - "Navy" - "News" - "Ships" - "Tech & Tactics" --- # The Navy just installed a laser on a destroyer to counter incoming drones ![]() A Navy destroyer recently got a major power-up when a laser was installed during a recent dry dock period, the service [announced]() on Thursday. The USS Dewey is the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to receive the service's new Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) laser weapons system. In the family of Navy lasers, ODIN is on the low-end, non-lethal side of the spectrum, [USNI News explained]() last year, working to jam or confuse drones rather than burn through them. While the Navy eventually hopes to engineer lasers that can burn through the nose cones of enemy anti-ship missiles, the service's newest destroyers currently [do not have enough power]() to fire the higher-end systems, according to a Congressional Research Service [report]() on Navy lasers published in December. For now, ODIN is an excellent first step towards being able to knock out waves of incoming drones without running out of ammo or using up expensive missiles, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. “The system allows the Navy to rapidly deploy an important, new capability to the Navy’s surface force in combating \[unmanned aerial systems\] threats,” NAVSEA [said]() in a statement. “UAS production and employment has increased significantly, and ODIN was developed to counter these threats.” That development is happening in double-time: ODIN was still on the drawing board a mere two-and-a-half-years ago, NAVSEA [said](). Now it’s on the USS Dewey and ready to rock. “The Pacific Fleet Commander identified this urgent Counter-Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance need and the Chief of Naval Operations directed us to fill it as quickly as possible,” [said]() Cmdr. David Wolfe, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Directed Energy office. NAVSEA [said]() the ODIN program “will have all units operational within the fleet” within the next couple years. A NAVSEA spokeswoman told Task & Purpose that the install happened in November 2019, a fact which The War Zone had [deduced]() from pictures taken of the Dewey at the time. The spokeswoman declined to say how many units the Navy expects to install and which ships will carry them. ## Author David Roza is a senior reporter at Task & Purpose with extensive experience covering aviation, technology, military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and a range of other personnel matters.David previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025 before returning to Task & Purpose as a scriptwriter for the team's YouTube channel. Share tips and story ideas with David at david.roza@recurrent.io. ## More - [The Navy just got its hands on a new frickin’ laser weapon to play with]() - [Watch the Navy fry a drone with a new shipboard laser weapon for the first time]() - [US Navy to China: ‘You don’t want to play laser tag with us’]() - [Here comes the Navy’s laser fleet]() - [The Navy wants to mount a powerful new laser on a destroyer to ‘burn the boats’]() - [The Navy wants lasers to shoot down drones and missiles, but its ships lack the power to fire them]() - [The Navy wants to slap a laser on a littoral combat ship for the first time]() - [The Navy is eyeing a brand new destroyer bristling with lasers and hypersonic weapons]()