The Navy uses expensive weapons and ammunition to strike back at targets—they are incoming missiles, small assault boats, and coastal defense systems—even if these targets are destroyed, it will only cost the enemy very little. Said at a seminar at the Marshall Institute. “This is not an affordable game. If you need to continue this game through a lot of fighting, you will soon find yourself on the downside of this economic equation.
The use of electric-driven laser pointer on naval ships has many advantages, one of which is the large number of launches. “For example, when shooting at enemy small ships and drones, the use of lasers can help keep the more expensive weapons equipped on warships so that they can be used to attack a limited number of targets that really need to use these weapons.
Compared with missiles that only produce explosions, lasers provide far more than just countering threats in the air. The laser system allows commanders to choose from a menu of graded lethality with tactical flexibility, O’Rourke said.
All U.S. services have their own development roadmap that outlines the development of directed energy weapons and combat plans. For example, on August 23, 2007, the United States Air Force tested an airborne chemical oxygen-iodine laser installed on a modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft, which was prepared to counter tactical ballistic missiles.
Tests have shown that the aircraft’s onboard laser system can perform all tasks of intercepting ballistic missiles. At the time, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Air Force Lieutenant General of the US Department of Defense called the test a “key milestone” in the airborne laser program.
On September 7, 2008, the megawatt-level chemical oxygen-iodine laser installed on an airplane emitted green laser pointer light for the first time, which took only a fraction of a second, marking the project has reached a new major milestone. On November 26, 2008, the chemical oxygen-iodine laser mounted on the carrier aircraft fired the laser for the first time on the ground through the beam control system and the turret mounted on the nose of the aircraft.