Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense: Deployment of the First Solid-State Laser Directed Energy Weapon, SSL, FEL, TLS, MLD, Terminal Defense Against China's ASBM

Navy officials announced in April 2013 that a solid-state laser would be deployed onboard the U.S.S. Ponce, providing the first at-sea demonstration of a revolutionary directed energy weapon. The demonstration is part of a wider portfolio of near-term Navy directed energy programs that promise rapid fielding, demonstration and prototyping efforts for shipboard, airborne and ground systems. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval Sea Systems Command recently performed demonstrations of hi…