{"id":48451,"date":"2026-03-31T12:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/31\/the-us-navy-brought-a-one-of-a-kind-laser-weapon-back-from-the-dead\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:46:32","slug":"the-us-navy-brought-a-one-of-a-kind-laser-weapon-back-from-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/03\/31\/the-us-navy-brought-a-one-of-a-kind-laser-weapon-back-from-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Navy brought a \u2018one-of-a-kind\u2019 laser weapon back from the dead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story originally appeared on Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. <\/i>Subscribe here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Navy spent at least six months resurrecting a high-energy laser weapon that previously graced the bow of a warship for a new military exercise last year, the service recently revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s Directed Energy Systems Integration Laboratory, or DESIL, a Naval Base Ventura County, California, facility<\/a> that evaluates laser weapons in a maritime environment, \u201cramped up efforts to restore critical functions\u201d to the service\u2019s \u201cone-of-a-kind\u201d 150 kW Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) demonstrator starting in early March 2025, according<\/a> to recently published \u2018year in review\u2019 bulletin <\/a>from Naval Sea Systems Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initiated<\/a> in 2012 and officially known as the Laser Weapon System Demonstrator Mk 2 Mod 0, the SSL-TM demonstrator was originally installed aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Portland in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system, described<\/a> as the successor to the 30 kW AN\/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System \u2014 also known as the XN-1 LaWS \u2014 that was mounted on the Austin-class amphibious transport dock USS Ponce in 2014, was designed to \u201cprovide a new capability to the Fleet to address known capability gaps against asymmetric threats,\u201d such as now-ubiquitous aerial drones and small boats laden with explosives, as well as \u201cinform future acquisition strategies, system designs integration architectures and fielding plans for laser weapon systems,\u201d according<\/a> to Navy budget documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SSL-TM demonstrator appears to have performed as advertised. The system successfully destroyed<\/a> a drone target during at-sea testing in the Gulf of Aden in May 2020 \u2014 an engagement that yielded one of the most vivid representations of a real-world laser weapon in action<\/a> to date \u2014 and neutralized<\/a> a small surface target during additional testing in December 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while prime contractor Northrop Grumman had specifically designed <\/a>the SSL-TM demonstrator for installation \u201cwith minimal modification or additional costs\u201d aboard the Navy\u2019s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the service initiated the system\u2019s deinstallation from the Portland in fiscal year 2023 after spending nearly $50 million on the effort, the budget documents say<\/a>. The Defense Department\u2019s final report on the initiative has not yet been made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland conducts a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration in the Gulf of Aden, December 2021. (Staff Sgt. Donald Holbert\/U.S. Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following the deinstallation, the SSL-TM demonstrator was presumably mothballed until the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering requested the laser weapon \u201cplay a role\u201d in the Pentagon\u2019s new Crimson Dragon military exercise the following September, the NAVSEA bulletin says<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Described as a weeklong, multi-unit DESIL test event, Crimson Dragon convened 20 defense contractors \u201cin a simulated combat environment\u201d to test the effectiveness of their drones, counter-drone systems and sensors \u201cin scenarios that simulated military base defense, long-range fires and integrated [ballistic missile defense],\u201d according<\/a> to the bulletin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SSL-TM demonstrator successfully shot down four drone targets during the exercise, the bulletin says<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s unclear which scenarios the SSL-TM demonstrator participated in during Crimson Dragon, an annual assessment of U.S. military weapon systems from the Pentagon\u2019s Director, Operational Test & Evaluation released on March 16 states<\/a> that part of the exercise \u201cfocused on the sea point of departure defense venues against all-domain maritime air-and-sea threats,\u201d which suggests the system may have provided air defense for a simulated port or staging area where troops and equipment embark onto ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beyond these brief mentions in recent U.S. military publications, no additional information is available regarding the current status of the SSL-TM demonstrator, its performance during Crimson Dragon and the Navy\u2019s future plans for the system. NAVSEA, OUSD(R&E) and the Office of Naval Research did not respond to requests for more details from Laser Wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without more context, it\u2019s difficult to infer where the return of the SSL-TM demonstrator fits into the U.S. military\u2019s expanding directed energy ambitions<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon has not indicated whether OUSD(R&E)\u2019s request was driven by the urgency of real-world threats \u2014 the demonstrator was first tested in the very waters where Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had spent more than a year<\/a> targeting U.S. warships and commercial shipping \u2014 or simply an opportunistic use of a capable system sitting in storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the system\u2019s restoration for Crimson Dragon potentially points to a broader challenge: despite years of testing and high-profile demonstrations, relatively few high-energy laser weapons<\/a> are actually available for the kind of realistic, large-scale exercises needed to refine tactics and validate how these weapons are used in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, it\u2019s not like the Pentagon has bunch of spare laser weapons floating around to play with<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Army\u2019s four 50 kW Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD)<\/a> systems have been completely demilitarized<\/a>, while the service\u2019s Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) systems are preoccupied<\/a> downing drones on the U.S.-Mexico border. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps returned its five Compact Laser Weapon System (CLaWS) <\/a>to Boeing. The Navy\u2019s AN\/SEQ-4 Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN)<\/a> laser weapons are all installed aboard active warships at sea; meanwhile, the service\u2019s 60 kW High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS)<\/a> system has had a challenging year<\/a> on its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, it appears that previously retired prototypes that might otherwise remain museum pieces<\/a> are being called back into service to keep the U.S. military\u2019s counter-drone experimentation moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon may be racing to field laser weapons at scale<\/a>, but for now it\u2019s still relying on yesterday\u2019s prototypes to figure out how they\u2019ll actually fight tomorrow\u2019s wars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Navy’s lone 150 kW laser weapon is back in action \u2013 sort 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