Lockheed Martin has delivered the first High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS, a laser weapon system to be integrated on the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
As explained, this will be the only deployed laser system integrated into an operational Flight IIA DDG.
The delivery follows the Lockheed Martin and US Navy’s recent demonstration of full laser power in excess of the 60 kW requirement. The scalable laser design architecture spectrally combines multiple kilowatt fiber lasers to attain high beam quality at various power levels.
Lockheed Martin completed the critical design review and navy factory qualification test milestones in 2020, demonstrating the value of system engineering rigor and proven Aegis system integration and test processes on the way to delivering operationally effective and suitable laser weapon system that meets the US Navy’s mission requirements.
Back in 2018, the US Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin a $150 million contract for work on the laser.