Laser Weapon Systems (LaWS)
MIDN 3/C Sangrones, Joshua
Jacksonville University
Laser Weapon System
In today’s standards, missiles and rockets are common when it comes to nations’ military warships. However, coinciding with the development of more advanced weapon systems, there are also advances in their counter measures. Such defense systems include the United States Navy’s Laser Weapon Systems (LaWS). Its creation allowed a more cost efficient and more effective way of countering enemy warship attacks. In the following paragraphs, I will explore the laser weapon system and explain why it is one of the most important breakthroughs of the US Navy.
History/Evolution
Military warships around the world are now capable of holding and …show more content…
Like what is seen in movies like Star Wars and Star Trek, laser weapons function in the same way. “Lasers” stand for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (Freudenrich, n.d.). From this, one can say that lasers are made from highly concentrated light that is focused to create a direct energy that can be used for different purposes. It then does a process in which light waves from a source are synchronized to match peaks with peaks and troughs with troughs (Freudenrich, n.d.). This prevents the different ultraviolet waves from interfering one another. The resulting light, however, can only travel in one direction. On the other hand, this beam can be focused so that the laser can produce light that can be lethal (Freudenrich, …show more content…
While running drills and experiments, it was proven that the laser system was able to shoot down missiles, projectiles, drones, and other unmanned aerial vehicles (Anthony, 2014). In addition, the high-powered laser was able to melt holes on the hulls of armored ships. In the near future, the Navy hopes to launch its Littoral Combat Ships, as well as the Arleigh-Burke class Destroyers, deployed with the Laser Weapon System (Freedberg, 2014). These systems would act as short-ranged, self-defense systems against drones, boats, and incoming enemy projectiles. LaWSs would replace defensive missiles and other gun-based
MIDN 3/C Sangrones, Joshua
Jacksonville University
Laser Weapon System
In today’s standards, missiles and rockets are common when it comes to nations’ military warships. However, coinciding with the development of more advanced weapon systems, there are also advances in their counter measures. Such defense systems include the United States Navy’s Laser Weapon Systems (LaWS). Its creation allowed a more cost efficient and more effective way of countering enemy warship attacks. In the following paragraphs, I will explore the laser weapon system and explain why it is one of the most important breakthroughs of the US Navy.
History/Evolution
Military warships around the world are now capable of holding and …show more content…
Like what is seen in movies like Star Wars and Star Trek, laser weapons function in the same way. “Lasers” stand for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (Freudenrich, n.d.). From this, one can say that lasers are made from highly concentrated light that is focused to create a direct energy that can be used for different purposes. It then does a process in which light waves from a source are synchronized to match peaks with peaks and troughs with troughs (Freudenrich, n.d.). This prevents the different ultraviolet waves from interfering one another. The resulting light, however, can only travel in one direction. On the other hand, this beam can be focused so that the laser can produce light that can be lethal (Freudenrich, …show more content…
While running drills and experiments, it was proven that the laser system was able to shoot down missiles, projectiles, drones, and other unmanned aerial vehicles (Anthony, 2014). In addition, the high-powered laser was able to melt holes on the hulls of armored ships. In the near future, the Navy hopes to launch its Littoral Combat Ships, as well as the Arleigh-Burke class Destroyers, deployed with the Laser Weapon System (Freedberg, 2014). These systems would act as short-ranged, self-defense systems against drones, boats, and incoming enemy projectiles. LaWSs would replace defensive missiles and other gun-based