The U.S. Navy has released dramatic photos from a demonstration of a high-energy laser that it says is paving the way for future weapons systems.
The laser was test-fired from the USS Portland on December 14 while sailing in the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia off the Arabian Sea.
During the demonstration, the laser weapon system "successfully engaged" a floating training target.
The Navy shared photos from the demonstration on Twitter, showing the laser training on its target and the crew behind the test.
The Navy previously tested the laser May 2020 when it successfully disabled a small drone over the Pacific Ocean. Video of the demonstration, considered a first-of-its-kind, was posted to YouTube.
The Navy selected Portland, an amphibious transport dock ship, to host the laser weapon technology in 2018.
"The Laser Weapons System Demonstrator is considered a next-generation follow-on to the Laser Weapon System that afloat forward staging base USS Ponce tested for three years while operating in the Middle East," the Navy said in a statement.
Capt. Karrey Sanders, commanding officer of Portland, has said the laser is paving the way for future weapons systems.
"With this new advanced capability, we are redefining war at sea for the Navy," Sanders said.
Portland is part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group that includes amphibious assault ship USS Essex and dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor.
The U.S. Navy has been developing directed-energy weapons (DEWs), including lasers, since the 1960s. DEWs are defined as electromagnetic systems capable of converting chemical or electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it on a target, resulting in physical damage that degrades, neutralizes, defeats or destroys an adversarial capability.
A day after the test from the USS Portland, the Navy announced it had opened a $23 million laboratory in California's Ventura County to test new laser weapons. The laboratory is designed so that weapons can be installed on the roof and inside the building for test and evaluation.
"The speed of warfare has increased so dramatically and exponentially over the last several years that one of the best ways that our fleet is going to be able to fight and win is with speed-of-light laser technology-types of weapons," said Vance Brahosky, Deputy Technical Director of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. "Testing that can now be done in this facility will allow us to evaluate and field warfighting capabilities so that the Sailors and Marines on our ships can fight and win."
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