US Navy developing laser weapons for ground vehicles

06-16-2014 • http://www.gizmag.com,

Called LaWS, it uses fiber-optic, solid-state laser as both an offensive and defensive weapon against drones, missiles, and other targets. The technology also has obvious potential for ground vehicles – a fact that hasn't escaped the US Marine Corps. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded contracts to develop a similar laser weapon that can be installed in light-tactical vehicles instead of ships as part of its Ground-Based Air Defense Directed Energy On-the-Move (GBAD) program and the Marine Corps Science and Technology Strategic Plan.

"We can expect that our adversaries will increasingly use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and our expeditionary forces must deal with that rising threat," says Colonel William Zamagni, acting head of ONR's Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism Department. "GBAD gives the Marine Corps a capability to counter the UAV threat efficiently, sustainably and organically with austere expeditionary forces.