17.12.2021, 11:50
Zitat:US Navy' USS Portland testing Laser Weapons System Demonstratorhttps://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph...rator.html
According to information published by the U.S Navy on December 15, 2021, amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) conducted a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. [...] During the demonstration, the Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation Laser Weapons System Demonstrator (LWSD) Mark 2 MOD 0 aboard Portland successfully engaged a static surface training target.
Portland previously tested the LWSD in May 2020 when it successfully disabled a small unmanned aerial system while operating in the Pacific Ocean. [...] The weapon, part of the Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) effort, is significantly more powerful than the 33 kW Laser Weapon System (LaWS) installed in 2014 aboard the now-decommissioned afloat forward staging base ship Ponce (AFSB 15).
The laser aboard Portland is installed forward in the ship in a trunk structure originally intended for a never-fitted vertical launch system. The LPD was selected because the ship had the space and weight capacity along with already-installed electrical cables to ease the laser installation. The SSL-TM laser is in a trainable mounting with a clear field of fire forward and to about 65 degrees abaft each beam.
Schneemann