ODIN

Report to Congress on Defense Department Directed Energy Weapons

The following is the Sept. 13, 2022 Congressional Research Service report, Department of Defense Directed Energy Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

Directed energy (DE) weapons use concentrated electromagnetic energy, rather than kinetic energy, to combat enemy forces. Although the United States has been researching directed energy since the 1960s, some experts have observed that the Department of Defense (DOD) has invested billions of dollars in DE programs that failed...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/14/report-to-congress-on-defense-department-directed-energy-weapons

Navy Installing More Directed Energy Weapons on DDGs, Conducting Land-Based Laser Testing This Year

Artist’s concept of a HELIOS laser system aboard a U.S. destroyer. Lockheed Martin Image

RIVERDALE, Md. – The Navy continues to learn more about a pair of directed energy weapons, as the service installs the fourth and fifth dazzler system this year and begins land-based testing of a high-energy laser weapon, the program executive officer for integrated warfare systems told USNI News.

The Navy has been in parallel working on an Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) program, a nonlethal weapon...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/07/navy-installing-more-directed-energy-weapons-on-ddgs-conducting-land-based-laser-testing-this-year

Littoral Combat Ship Will Field Laser Weapon as Part of Lockheed Martin, Navy Test

Littoral combat ship Little Rock (LCS 9) is underway during a high-speed run in Lake Michigan during acceptance trials. Lockheed Martin Photo

The Navy will put a laser weapon on a Littoral Combat Ship for the first time this year, amid efforts to boost the LCS’s lethality and to develop and field a family of laser systems.

USS Little Rock (LCS-9) will receive a laser weapon during its upcoming deployment, Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Richard Brown told reporters. The ship will...

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/13/littoral-combat-ship-will-field-laser-weapon-as-part-of-lockheed-martin-navy-test

Navy to Field High-Energy Laser Weapon, Laser Dazzler on Ships This Year as Development Continues

The Office of Naval Research highlights the results of some laser weapon tests, showing the damage that its in-development Solid State Laser- Technology Maturation system did to various unmanned systems, metals and more. USNI News photo.

The Navy will field versions of both its highest-power laser weapon and its low-end non-lethal laser dazzler later this year, gaining operational experience with directed energy weapons that will continue to focus engineers’ efforts building out the Navy Laser...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/30/navy-to-field-high-energy-laser-weapon-laser-dazzler-on-ships-this-year-as-development-continues