US Navy: SM-6 launches from modular launcher off of USV Ranger
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The laser beam test was fired from USS Portland and destroyed its practice target in the Gulf of Ade, which is between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The weapon could be a “game-changer” in conflicts at sea, according to US officials. This laser test also comes after the weapon was first tested at sea in May last year, when the USS Portland used it to take out a flying drone.
And is the most recent laser test, the Navy said its “Laser Weapon System” had “successfully engaged” the target, which was this time floating in the sea.
But lasers are no new phenomenon for the US Navy.
In fact, they have been working on these kinds of weapons since way back in the Cold War.
But now, as tension heats up in the South China Sea, American officials warned that these weapons could be used in a potential war against China.
This would mean that US ships would not have to waste time reloading their guns and missiles if the Chinese launch an attack.
And the lasers could be used to provide cover while US ships launch attack missiles.
The commanding officer of the USS Portland has said that the laser weapon is “redefining war at sea for the Navy”.
It could be used against drone boats carrying explosives and deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, US officials have said.
In 2018 a Congressional report called what are known as “directed energy” weapons, such as lasers, “game-changer”.
The report said that these lasers are “regarded as a ‘game changer’ for defending Navy surface ships against enemy missiles”.
The report also made clear that there has been “substantial progress toward deploying high-energy solid-state lasers on ships”.
It read: “Navy surface ships would use high-energy solid-state lasers initially for countering small boats, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and potentially in the future for countering ASCMs [anti-ship cruise missiles] and ASBMs [anti-ship ballistic missiles].
“They would be short-range defensive weapons. They would counter targets at ranges of about one mile to perhaps eventually a few miles.”
This comes as tension with China has nearly reached boiling point.
It comes as China’s military presence in the South China Sea has put increasing pressure on Taiwan, which China claims it owns.
But the US, who back Taiwan, which wants independence, has warned that if China invades it will be prepared to step in.
Henry Boyd, a Britain-based defence analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies said: “The need to stand up to China is a strong enough motivating factor that not taking this fight would also be seen as a betrayal of American national interests.”
And on the Russia-Ukraine border, the US has become increasingly concerned about the build-up of around 100,000 Russian troops sent there by Vladimir Putin.
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President Joe Biden has urged Mr Putin not to launch an invasion of Ukraine.
While Mr Biden has said that sending U.S. ground combat troops to Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion was “never on the table”, he did say that Russia will pay “a terrible price”.
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