This year, the U.S. Navy will field the first acquisition program to deploy the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS, a laser weapon system with high-energy fiber lasers for permanent fielding by the U.S. Department of Defense.

This will be the only deployed laser system integrated into an operational Flight IIA DDG. This follows the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Navy's recent demonstration of full laser power in excess of the 60 kW requirement. The scalable laser design architecture spectrally combines multiple kilowatt fiber lasers to attain high beam quality at various power levels.

Lockheed Martin completed the Critical Design Review and Navy Factory Qualification Test milestones in 2020, demonstrating the value of system engineering rigor and proven Aegis system integration and test processes on the way to delivering operationally effective and suitable laser weapon system that meets the Navy's mission requirements.

Lockheed Martin Directed Energy solutions provide a proven, affordable, scalable, multi-mission capability and weapon architecture with advanced beam control and innovative fiber lasers that support size, weight and power constraints for air, sea and land platforms.

Lockheed Martin is advancing and demonstrating a range of technologies to position laser weapon systems for success on the battlefield and at-sea on a variety of platforms.

Related Links
Directed Energy at Lockheed Martin
Learn about laser weapon technology at SpaceWar.com

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Navy tests autonomous drone as target for laser weapon testing
Washington DC (UPI) Nov 25, 2020
The U.S. Navy Surface War Center announced a test in which an autonomous drone was launched and landed on a moving ship as a target for laser weapons. The tests, held last week at the NSWC Division at Port Hueneme, Calif., involved software made for the Navy by Planck Aerosystems Inc. that allow the drone to follow the ship without people controlling it, the Navy said. The four-rotor drone, called a quadcopter, took off, hovered and flew alongside a ship, and then landed on stationary an ... read more