Memorial Day, 2019

The Star Advertiser reports on the 21st-century Navy:

(Lockheed Martin rendering via the Star Advertiser)

The Pearl Harbor-based USS Preble will be the first destroyer to be equipped with a high-energy laser to counter surface craft and unmanned aerial systems. [snip]

The Congressional Research Service said in a May report that the Navy is developing three new ship-based weapons: solid-state lasers, an electromagnetic railgun and a gun-launched guided projectile that “could substantially improve” the ability of Navy surface ships to defend against surface craft, unmanned aerial vehicles and, eventually, anti-ship cruise missiles.

The HELIOS (High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler With Surveillance) System has been developed to counter the threat from drones.

The Modern War Institute at West Point wrote in late 2018 that drone swarm technology is a growing threat. The report said China is interested in swarm technology as a method of attacking aircraft carriers.

Iran’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced in March that it had conducted an exercise in the Persian Gulf involving 50 combat drones.

Swarms of small attackers, laser defenses, and no time to think---it sounds like an arcade videogame from the 1970's.


Your humble blogger could last over an hour on a single quarter. Born 50 years too soon, I coulda been a defendah.

Happy Memorial Day!