Multifunctional combat laser system HELIOS will be installed on the destroyer "Preble" type "Arlie Burke" this year, reports Breaking Defense. After that, it will be tested at sea. HELIOS has three functions: to hit small ships and drones, to monitor remote objects and to dazzle optical systems.
The military considers the main advantage of laser weapons to be its virtually unlimited ammunition: the radiating installation shoots until it ceases to receive energy from the power source. It is also assumed that lasers will provide relatively cheap and at the same time reliable protection of ships from surface boats, light aircraft and drones.
Lockheed Martin has been developing HELIOS (High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance, a high-energy laser with integrated blinding laser and surveillance) since 2018. The system consists of a combat laser with a power of 60 kilowatts, an optical subsystem for focusing the laser and observing remote objects, and a low-power laser blinding optical surveillance and guidance systems. For example, thermal imagers or electron-optical cameras. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin can supply up to nine serial HELIOS to the US Navy.
The combat laser system will be installed on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Preble this year after successful tests on Wallops Island last fall. After that, it will be tested at sea. The military plans to integrate HELIOS into the Aegis shipboard combat information and control system and include it in the latter's weapons component.
This year, not only Americans, but also the French are planning to test the laser at sea. Earlier we wrote about their HELMA-P system for countering drones on the water.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva