US Navy Destroyer Fires 60 KW Helios Combat Laser
February 2, 2025 by Brian WangThe US Navy released a new photo of USS Preble (DDG-88) firing her HELIOS laser weapon.
It is a 60 kilowatt combat laser.
The USS Preble is the first U.S. Navy vesselequipped with HELIOS, a 60-kilowatt-class directed energy laser weapon developed by Lockheed Martin. It is also the first laser weapon integrated with the Aegis combat system, a key feature that enhances the ship’s ability to track, engage, and neutralize threats.
It provides a cost-effective countermeasure against drones, small boats, and other asymmetric threats. The U.S. Navy has been expanding its directed energy arsenal.
The U.S. Navy’s High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system faced its first airborne target during a test in 2024, a first-time for the HELIOS program that will help the U.S. Navy inform other programs under the Directed Energy and Electric Weapon System effort.
Scarce details were published in the 2024 annual DOT&E report. According to the report, the Center for Countermeasures (CCM) supported the U.S. Navy’s test effort by collecting imagery in support of validation and verification of the HELIOS system.
U.S. Navy RDT&E budget documents for FY2025 mentioning ICARUS, an Integrated Counter Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM) Remote Unmanned Shot.
The HELIOS weapon test is part of a broader U.S. Navy family of laser weapons being developed by three different divisions in an aim to mature the technology related to maritime applications of laser weapon systems while improving power efficiency and beam quality.
Source: Congressional Research Service. Navy briefing slide provided by Navy Office of Legislative Affairs to CRS on May 16, 2024.
The U.S. Navy’s laser weapons programs fall into two broad families. One is the Navy Laser Family of Systems (NLFoS). The U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Division (N96) manages development of Surface Navy Laser Weapon System Increment One (HELIOS) and the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN). The other is the U.S. Navy’s Innovation, Technology Missions, and Test and Evaluation Division (N94) family, which included development of the Solid State Laser – Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) and Ruggedized High Energy Laser (RHEL).
Outside of the U.S. Navy, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering is managing HELSI, the force-wide High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative that aims to scale up laser power while improving efficiency and beam quality downrange.
The U.S. Navy has completed work on SSL-TM and did not request funding for SSL-TM in FY2025. Final disposition of the installed prototype on USS Portland (LPD 27) was planned for Q4 2024. Technology developed under SSL-TM was transferred to the U.S. Navy’s HELCAP program.
HELIOS fitted on USS PREBLE. Naval News photo.
According to the U.S. Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs, the U.S. Navy’s work on platforms developed by N96 and N94, alongside force-wide efforts advanced by the HELSI effort, will help inform decisions on the U.S. Navy’s High Energy Laser Counter Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Project (HELCAP). HELCAP seeks to deliver a 300+ kilowatt laser platform to the U.S. Navy, selected from one of the scaled laser systems developed under HELSI.
Scarce details were published in the 2024 annual DOT&E report. According to the report, the Center for Countermeasures (CCM) supported the U.S. Navy’s test effort by collecting imagery in support of validation and verification of the HELIOS system.
U.S. Navy FY2025 budget documents had a test scheduled for HELIOS against an anti-ship cruise missile. It is unclear if the test mentioned by DOT&E is related to that planned test, but the U.S. Navy had planned for post-test analysis of an anti-ship cruise missile engagement in FY2024.
The HELIOS weapon test is part of a broader U.S. Navy family of laser weapons being developed by three different divisions in an aim to mature the technology related to maritime applications of laser weapon systems while improving power efficiency and beam quality.
The U.S. Navy’s laser weapons programs fall into two broad families. One is the Navy Laser Family of Systems (NLFoS). The U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Division (N96) manages development of Surface Navy Laser Weapon System Increment One (HELIOS) and the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN). The other is the U.S. Navy’s Innovation, Technology Missions, and Test and Evaluation Division (N94) family, which included development of the Solid State Laser – Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) and Ruggedized High Energy Laser (RHEL).
Outside of the U.S. Navy, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering is managing HELSI, the force-wide High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative that aims to scale up laser power while improving efficiency and beam quality downrange.
The U.S. Navy has completed work on SSL-TM and did not request funding for SSL-TM in FY2025. Final disposition of the installed prototype on USS Portland (LPD 27) was planned for Q4 2024. Technology developed under SSL-TM was transferred to the U.S. Navy’s HELCAP program.
According to the U.S. Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs, the U.S. Navy’s work on platforms developed by N96 and N94, alongside force-wide efforts advanced by the HELSI effort, will help inform decisions on the U.S. Navy’s High Energy Laser Counter Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Project (HELCAP). HELCAP seeks to deliver a 300+ kilowatt laser platform to the U.S. Navy, selected from one of the scaled laser systems developed under HELSI.
