US Navy nears fielding anti-drone lasers on ships

25th March 2019 - 12:00 GMT | by Marc Selinger in Washington, DC

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The US Navy plans to begin fielding a handful of ‘low-power’ lasers on ships this year to test their ability to counter growing threats from hostile UAVs, according to a service official.

The Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy (ODIN), formerly called the Low Power Module, will probably begin its deployment on the west coast, said RADM Ronald Boxall, director of navy surface warfare, who spoke on 20 March at the Directed Energy Summit in Washington, DC.

The navy’s FY2020 budget request indicates that a total of eight ODIN units will be placed on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers by FY2021. The government-developed …

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