Able to hit only a few targets
The US Navy conducted another test of laser weapons installed on the USS Potland LPD-27. He informs about the command of the 5th Fleet of the US Navy on his Twitter. The test, during which the laser successfully hit a naval target, took place in the Gulf of Aden.
Photo: twitter.com
This is not the first test of laser weapons from a transport ship. In May 2020, the ship underwent regular tests in the Pacific Ocean. Then the laser installation successfully hit the flying drone.
Alexey Leonkov, a military expert, editor of Arsenal Otechestva magazine, said what targets the laser installation is capable of striking and what threat the MK itself poses.
-If you look at the map where the Gulf of Aden is located, then it is the area between Yemen and Somalia, a desert area with good indicators of atmospheric transparency, where laser weapons can demonstrate high performance. A laser installation with a generation output of 150 kW over a distance of five kilometers loses about half of its output and reaches only 75 kW. What is 75 kW? That's enough to destroy light missile hulls.
Potland itself is a relatively massive ship, its displacement is 25 thousand tons, length is 208 meters and width is 31 meters. It has 4 diesel engines with an output of 40,000 horsepower. It is clear that these motors were not used to power this laser. This means that you must install a special installation for it.
The US Navy claims that the laser can destroy small ships, boats, barges and drones. But not just UAVs, by the way, this is a very interesting moment, but low speed and not maneuvering. Because aiming the laser takes some time.
When Americans test this type of weapon, they forget to specify how long it will take for the laser to hit the target and how long it will take to fire another shot. They also don't like to say how much the equipment that allowed this laser to hit the target costs. However, which is several times cheaper in terms of price characteristics.
Remember that all lasers have a number of disadvantages. First, the lasers heat up and the heat needs to be removed somewhere, otherwise the ship's unmasking properties are lost. Second, the low rate of fire of the laser. It is only able to hit a few individual targets.
-In Soviet times, we conducted research into lasers and came to the conclusion that ideal conditions are needed for them to work fully in the atmosphere. If the weather breaks, it rains, fogs, snows, the laser efficiency will be zero. The laser cannot hit the clouds. Its effectiveness as an anti-aircraft weapon that hits targets is low. The US Navy relies on laser weapons because today it does not have weapons capable of hitting hypersonic targets, such as the Russian anti-ship missile Zircon. But the question of whether the laser can handle this task remains open.