The Laser Weapon System (LaWS) temporarily installed aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105) in San Diego, Calif., is a technology demonstrator built by the Naval Sea Systems Command from commercial fiber solid state lasers, using combination methods developed at the Naval Research Laboratory. U.S. Navy / John F. Williams
Navy secretary vows more money for anti-drone lasers
The Defense Department’s spending on lasers is down, but the need is up.
The Navy will increase funding for directed energy solutions, like lasers, to reduce the cost of intercepting enemy missiles, service secretary Carlos Del Toro said Thursday—a month after he told lawmakers that shooting down drones and missiles in the Red Sea had cost the service nearly $1 billion. And, Del Toro said, he wants to see “aggressive” deployment in five to 10 years.
The Navy currently has four efforts related to directed energy for ship defense: the Solid State Laser Technology Maturation, or SSL-TM, effort; the Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy, or ODIN; the Surface Navy Laser Weapon System, or SNLWS Increment 1 (also called HELIOS); and the High Energy Laser Counter-ASCM Program, or HELCAP.
But the service actually installed its first laser on a ship more than ten years ago—a system capable of shooting down relatively slow-moving drones and missiles. Since then, the cost of fast, high-performance drones and missiles has gone down, making the technology available to more players and proxy groups. However, the effectiveness of lasers has not increased as quickly.
In March, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Erik Kurilla told lawmakers: “I would love to have the Navy produce more directed energy that can shoot down a drone so I don't have to use an expensive missile to shoot it down. But what's worse than not having that expensive missile shoot it down is hitting that $2 billion ship with 300 sailors on it.”
The slow deployment is due partly to the technical challenge of ramping up lasers to sufficient power levels quickly enough to down fast-moving drones. But it also speaks to unmitigated ambition. As a CRS report from February points out, “Laser proponents acknowledge the record of past unfulfilled predictions, but argue that the situation has now changed because of rapid advancements in [solid-state laser] technology and a shift from earlier ambitious goals (such as developing megawatt-power lasers for countering targets at tens or hundreds of miles) to more realistic goals (such as developing kilowatt-power lasers for countering targets at no more than a few miles).”
On Thursday, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, brought the challenge to Del Toro.
“We just shot down $100,000 worth of missiles with about $15 million worth of our missiles. [On] directed energy, I hope that the department can reprioritize, because the entire Defense Department has cut directed energy [research and development] and expenditures by 50%—by half—over the last three years.”
The Defense Department’s most recent budget request includes $355 million for directed energy research and development. But it was spending $1 billion on directed energy across the Department in 2023, according to GAO.
When King asked Del Toro if the Navy could commit to increasing its fund for directed energy research, the Navy secretary said yes, with a caveat.
“To the extent that I have authority to do so in POM 2026, I will absolutely do so…I thought that we needed to invest far more significantly in laser and high directed energy systems. I regret that we haven't done that for the past 30 years or so. We need to do that moving forward. There's no question in my mind to get to a place perhaps five to 10 years from now where we could actually start aggressively employing those capabilities on our ships early.”