The company Lockheed Martin, specializing in the aircraft industry, the development of aerospace engineering, shipbuilding and weapons production, have signed a contract under which she will develop and put into service the U.S. Navy’s innovative laser weapons. Work on the creation of laser guns was carried out by the company’s engineers for years. We even told you about this kind of weapons on our website, but only now the military has officially shown interest in such developments and decided to support the Lockheed Martin material.
The first contract for $ 150 million implies an increase of this amount to 942 million in that case that the Pentagon is satisfied with the quality engineers Lockheed Martin laser guns. These tools will combine the have already been tested in the field a powerful laser system and optical targeting system. The system is called HELIOS, and it is quite capable not only to shoot down enemy drones and sink small boats, but also to track down and blind the enemy at greater distances. The first two prototype laser weapon entered service with the U.S. Navy in 2020. One laser unit will be equipped with eskadronny class destroyer “Arleigh Burke”, the second gun will be a test on one of military bases in new Mexico.
“Project HELIOS is the first of its kind, because it combines laser weapons, the possibility of operational intelligence at far distances, and the ability to counter unmanned aerial vehicles. All this greatly improves situational awareness and the protection of US Navy ships. We are very proud that the Pentagon has entrusted Lockheed Martin to create such weapons systems” — summed up the Vice-President of the division of Integrated Systems and Sensors, Michelle Evans.
The HELIOS system is based on two other projects Lockheed Martin. The first of these is ATHENA, a laser gun with homing capable of shooting down unmanned aerial vehicles over long distances. The second is called ALADIN, which is an abbreviation for Accelerated Laser Demonstration Initiative, and is a particularly powerful 30-kilowatt laser. The use of fibre lasers allows to achieve stability of the radiation, as well as compact installation size. In addition, one of the requirements for the installation is the most stable platform, eliminating any vibration that can interfere with the laser beam to hit the target.
Lockheed Martin has signed a contract to supply US Navy laser weapon
Sergey Grey