U.S. Navy Revives Retired "Unique" High-Energy Laser Weapon System for Military Exercise

Summary

The U.S. Navy spent approximately six months restoring its 150 kW Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) demonstrator, a one-of-a-kind directed energy weapon that had previously been deinstalled from the USS Portland in fiscal year 2023 after nearly $50 million in development spending. The revival was requested by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering so the system could participate in the Pentagon's Crimson Dragon military exercise, a weeklong multi-contractor event simulating combat scenarios involving drones, counter-drone systems, and integrated missile defense. During the exercise, the SSL-TM demonstrator successfully engaged and destroyed four drone targets, potentially contributing to port and staging area defense scenarios against simulated maritime air and sea threats. The system's resurrection highlights a significant gap in the U.S. military's inventory of operational high-energy laser weapons available for large-scale realistic testing, as numerous other directed energy programs have been demobilized, returned to contractors, or are fully committed to active deployments. This situation suggests that the Pentagon, despite ambitious goals for fielding laser weapons at scale, is currently dependent on reactivating older retired prototypes to continue advancing its counter-drone tactics and combat strategies.