(14.04.2019)

News.usni.org reports that the Navy intends to install a High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) weapon system aboard a West Coast Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA destroyer by 2021. The new laser is intended to operate at 60 kilowatts, three times more powerful than the laser weapons system the Navy tested aboard the USS Ponce five years ago. The laser system is mainly intended to target small attack boats and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The HELIOS system is to be developed by Lockheed Martin.