at about 59 cents per shot.....GO NAVY!!!

The Navy's 30-kilowatt solid-state laser aboard the USS Ponce is now being fired in operational scenarios by sailors in the Persian Gulf, marking the first-ever deployment of a sea-based directed energy weapon.

"We've tested it in the lab we've tested it operationally at sea. Now, we are not testing it anymore. This is operational," said Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research at the Office of Naval Research. "They are using it every day."

If a small or large attack boat, missile or aircraft launched an attack upon the USS Ponce, sailors are equipped to destroy an approaching threat in seconds with the new laser weapon.

"If we had to defend that ship today, it will destroy any threat that comes in-bound. We have the ROE (rules of engagement) to support that," he said.

The Navy's Laser Weapon System, or LaWS, uses heat energy from lasers to disable or destroy targets fast, slow, stationary and moving targets. The system has successfully incinerated drones and other targets in tests shots, and is now operational aboard an amphibious transport dock, the USS Ponce.

The scalable weapon is designed to destroy threats for about 59-cents per shot, an amount that is exponentially lower that the hundreds of thousands or millions needed to fire an interceptor missile such as the Standard Missile-2, Klunder explained.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/12/11/navy-declares-laser-weapons-ready-to-protect-ships-in-persian-gulf/

Wow!!!

Quote from: Ek Ehecatl on December 11, 2014, 10:20:47 AM
at about 59 cents per shot.....GO NAVY!!!

The Navy's 30-kilowatt solid-state laser aboard the USS Ponce is now being fired in operational scenarios by sailors in the Persian Gulf, marking the first-ever deployment of a sea-based directed energy weapon.

"We've tested it in the lab we've tested it operationally at sea. Now, we are not testing it anymore. This is operational," said Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research at the Office of Naval Research. "They are using it every day."

If a small or large attack boat, missile or aircraft launched an attack upon the USS Ponce, sailors are equipped to destroy an approaching threat in seconds with the new laser weapon.

"If we had to defend that ship today, it will destroy any threat that comes in-bound. We have the ROE (rules of engagement) to support that," he said.

The Navy's Laser Weapon System, or LaWS, uses heat energy from lasers to disable or destroy targets fast, slow, stationary and moving targets. The system has successfully incinerated drones and other targets in tests shots, and is now operational aboard an amphibious transport dock, the USS Ponce.

The scalable weapon is designed to destroy threats for about 59-cents per shot, an amount that is exponentially lower that the hundreds of thousands or millions needed to fire an interceptor missile such as the Standard Missile-2, Klunder explained.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/12/11/navy-declares-laser-weapons-ready-to-protect-ships-in-persian-gulf/

Wow!!!

Congress will not stand for weapons system that efficient and inexpensive. They want $400 hammers.

Quote from: supsalemgr on December 11, 2014, 02:15:25 PM
Congress will not stand for weapons system that efficient and inexpensive. They want $400 hammers.

Hmm...  at about 59 cents per shot.....GO NAVY!!!

The Navy's 30-kilowatt solid-state laser aboard the USS Ponce comes at a cost of $40 million.

So much for $400 hammers. 

Quote from: walkstall on December 11, 2014, 02:39:58 PM
Hmm...  at about 59 cents per shot.....GO NAVY!!!

The Navy's 30-kilowatt solid-state laser aboard the USS Ponce comes at a cost of $40 million.

So much for $400 hammers.

If they shoot it 67,796,610 times, that's about 59 cents/shot. 

Quote from: TboneAgain on December 11, 2014, 04:07:22 PM
If they shoot it 67,796,610 times, that's about 59 cents/shot. 

I am sure the price will go up next year per shot.   

Not sure what the nuclear reactor cost to run that sucker.

After suitable testing this costly equipment will doubtlessly become mandatory for all Navy vessels. So much for $400 hammers, indeed. I wonder if they've tested it under EMP conditions (the obvious defense).

Quote from: quiller on December 11, 2014, 06:09:28 PM
After suitable testing this costly equipment will doubtlessly become mandatory for all Navy vessels. So much for $400 hammers, indeed. I wonder if they've tested it under EMP conditions (the obvious defense).

From what I can see there is a dome over it when not in use. 

Quote from: quiller on December 11, 2014, 06:09:28 PM
After suitable testing this costly equipment will doubtlessly become mandatory for all Navy vessels. So much for $400 hammers, indeed. I wonder if they've tested it under EMP conditions (the obvious defense).

Unfortunately, Mother nature doesn't always cooperate. Fog, rain, cloud cover, heavily effects laser.
But hey, if it can take out a target with a whisper, I'm all for it.

Quote from: quiller on December 11, 2014, 06:09:28 PM
After suitable testing this costly equipment will doubtlessly become mandatory for all Navy vessels. So much for $400 hammers, indeed. I wonder if they've tested it under EMP conditions (the obvious defense).

To test against that, I mean in order to see if the weapon can be shielded against the EMP from such blasts, wouldn't they have to set a nuke off above ground?

The U.S. doesn't do any kind of above ground nuclear weapons testing at all.

Quote from: daidalos on December 13, 2014, 04:44:47 AM
To test against that, I mean in order to see if the weapon can be shielded against the EMP from such blasts, wouldn't they have to set a nuke off above ground?

The U.S. doesn't do any kind of above ground nuclear weapons testing at all.

Test it, at Mecca and Medina.

 

Quote from: daidalos on December 13, 2014, 04:44:47 AM
To test against that, I mean in order to see if the weapon can be shielded against the EMP from such blasts, wouldn't they have to set a nuke off above ground?

The U.S. doesn't do any kind of above ground nuclear weapons testing at all.

A weapon such as this is extremely easy to shield from an EMP. Just look at the housing it's confined in.

TOS USS Enterprise fires phasers