Weapons of the Future, Available Soon

Laser weapons are no longer a matter of science fiction: The U.S. Navy is testing prototypes that can shoot down a drone or sink a boat, and these weapons of the future may be deployed in limited capacity by the mid 2020s, analysts say.

The goal for developers is to create a weapon with precise aim and unlimited ammunition – as long as the beam has a full battery. The lasers could be used to protect ships or cities against incoming missiles or drones, and the energy technology gained from their development could also help design better batteries and longer lasting electric cars.

The Department of Defense is spending $371 million on lasers, or "directed energy," in 2015. Thanks to “investments made decades ago,” the laser weapons being tested now “can deliver shipboard defense at $1 per shot” using existing battery packs, according to a recent report from the Office of Naval Research.

A test on the USS Ponce in November disabled aerial drones and melted holes in ships. Cost effectiveness will be key to determining how quickly lasers will be deployed by the military, but much of the inner workings of laser technology is classified, including how much it costs to build the weapons systems being developed by General Atomics and Lockheed Martin.

General Atomics generated excitement at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition last week by showcasing its Generation 3 laser, which they promise will be even more powerful and advanced than the type of weapon tested on the Ponce. While General Atomics had a breakthrough in laser research during the early 2000s, the details of the science behind its Generation 3 laser is classified, says Mike Perry, the company's vice president for Mission Systems. The Generation 3 laser has “defensive and offensive capabilities,” it is more compact than the system used on the Ponce and is powered by a lithium ion battery, he says.

“It’s very different than the lasers you have seen on the Web,” he says, referring to test videos from the USS Ponce. “The laser technology is more mature. We are far beyond killing boats and unmanned aerial vehicles.”

Military laser research is focused on boosting energy storage but also power density, which is the amount of energy a beam can contain. The research could one day have practical, industrial uses: Lithium ion battery technology used to power lasers can influence the lithium ion electric car batteries being designed by Tesla Motors, for instance. The military is “just now starting to grapple with lasers as a reality,” so it will take time for that energy technology to go from the lab to civilian uses, Perry says.

The military’s interest in laser weapons dates back decades, but perhaps the most well-known involves the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “Star Wars.” The government in the early 1980s considered a defense system involving a curtain of X-ray lasers powered by nuclear explosions, theorizing that such a set up could destroy more incoming missiles than an optical laser, which would have to focus on one target at a time. Tests in 1983, known as the Cabra Event, showed that the X-ray lasers would likely not work for missile defense. Despite promising more than it could deliver, funding for lasers boomed during the Reagan administration, reaching a high point in 1989 of $2 billion in today’s dollars adjusted for inflation, says Paul Scharre, director of the 20YY Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American Security.

Modern lasers would be better at defending against smaller missiles and mortars, says Peter Singer, a strategist and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Israel uses a missile defense system called the Iron Dome that launches rockets and artillery shells to counter mortars launched by terrorists, but lasers would be a far less expensive defense system, he says.

“Israel is using a multi-million dollar system to shoot down rockets that cost about a few hundred dollars,” he says. “That’s unsustainable. Lasers could be a game-changer in the quantity game.”

The “holy grail” of military laser use would be to put a beam weapon on a jet, which could be less expensive and more precise than a missile, Scharre says.

“Pilots eventually run out of missiles, but lasers work as long as you have a battery, and you could aim the cannon to precisely disable a rival jet,” he explains.

While lasers are no longer a fantasy, the future is not here yet. Scharre predicts there will be lasers deployed by the military “in limited capacity,” by the mid-2020s, while Perry aims for General Atomics to work with the military to deploy direct energy weapons “before then.”

“They are useful but they are not yet at the point where they would replace guns,” Scharre says.