By Dan Middlemiss, 20 August 2024
It was not many years ago when some in this Forum were holding out hope for the next ‘magic bullet’ for Canadian warships, and for the then Canadian Surface Combatant in particular.
The United States as well as other countries have been exploring the possibilities of dramatically reducing the cost per shot of shipborne lasers against drones, anti-ship missiles, and even ballistic missiles. Such systems would constitute a panacea for the adverse cost-exchange ratio that the Yemen-based Houthi rebels and states like Ukraine have been imposing upon their adversaries by using relatively inexpensive drones and missiles.
Alas, despite considerable research and development and live-fire testing, so far the promise of truly effective high energy lasers has not been realized.
A recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service, Navy Shipboard Lasers: Background and Issues for Congress, R44175 (16 July 2024), provides a very useful update of just where the US Navy now stands regarding these systems.
The report summaries the potential advantages and limitations of theses laser systems as follows:
Pros:
- Fast engagement times
- Ability to counter radically maneuvering missiles
- Precision engagements
- Graduated responses
Cons:
- Line of sight restrictions
- Atmospheric absorption, scattering, and turbulence
- Thermal blooming
- Can be overwhelmed by saturation attacks (beams track one target at a time)
- Vulnerable to hardened targets and countermeasures
- Risk of collateral damage to aircraft, satellites, and human eyes
Overall, earlier predictions about the prospects for shipboard lasers have proven to be overly optimistic. At best, the USN is now evaluating much more moderately powered lasers for very close-in defence, primarily against lower-end, asymmetric threats. The space, weight, power, and cooling requirements for these lasers must compete against similar requirements for proven anti-missile kinetic systems.
Finally, the report notes that the procurement costs for these systems to date are roughly comparable to other kinetic and non-kinetic systems, although the costs per engagement of lasers could still be substantially lower – provided their many technological limitations can be overcome.
As matter stand, the trickle of information about the RCN’s future fleet-mix study does not appear to include options for shipboard lasers in future flights of the River-class destroyers.
