An artist's depiction of the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) in action. (Courtesy of Lockheed Martin)
The Navy intends to mount a laser weapons system aboard a guided-missile destroyer for user against small enemy watercraft in the next two years, the head of the service's surface warfare directorate announced on Wednesday.
"We are going to burn the boats if you will and move forward with this technology," Rear Adm. Ron Boxall said during an industry summit in Washington, D.C., according to USNI News.
U.S. Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 252 help Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 with the aerial refueling of F-35B Lightning II aircraft over Florida Oct. 2, 2012. (U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt. Gabriela Garcia)
The Defense Department is weighing a plan to deploy F-35 fighters to hover on the outskirts of North Korea airspace and neutralize intercontinental ballistic missiles shortly after launch, Reuters reports.
The Marine Corps is on the hunt for a vehicle-mounted laser system that can produce "sustainable and controllable plasma at range" for the purposes of crowd control, according to A U.S. government solicitation.
The skies above a crucial U.S. military base in Africa are reportedly doing their best impression of a Pink Floyd laser show at your local planetarium — and that may end up causing major problems at a strategic chokepoint that’s increasingly subject to aggressive competition between global military powers.
