U.S. Bares Deployment Of Ship Armed With Laser Weapons In Persian Gulf

For the first time, the US Navy has revealed that it has deployed combat-ready futuristic laser weapons aboard a warship patrolling the Persian Gulf not far from Iran.

In a Nov. 14 report, Bloomberg said a 13-kilowatt-class Laser Weapon System (LAWS) is part of the armament of the amphibious transport ship USS Ponce.

Vice Admiral John Miller, the 5th Fleet commander, made the disclosure, adding that the new weapon has been on board the USS Ponce since late August.

Miller said the USS Ponce "provides a unique platform" for the laser weapon "in an operationally relevant region." The Ponce is the 5th Fleet's primary command and control staging base for operations.

US Navy officials said the laser weapon is effective against numerous small targets, such as Iran's gunboats. Mounted on the bow of the warship, it works by focusing beams from six solid-state commercial welding lasers into a single strong beam. Officials said the beam can be used either as a dazzling warning shot or a weapon capable of destroying targets by setting them on fire.

The United States has long been known to be working on producing new and more devastating weapons for its armed forces. But most of the country's efforts have so far remained as experimental projects that are still under development.

Last week's disclosure of a fully capable laser weapon thus marked a first in U.S. military history.

Since 2011, the U.S. Navy has been bolstering its forces in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz as conflicts continue to plague the Middle East.

Sources said the prototype laser weapon was developed by the Naval Sea Systems Command after seven years of trial at a cost of around $40 million.

The U.S. Navy is also working on a high-powered electromagnetic rail gun, not unlike the fictional weapons depicted in the "Star Wars" movies where 23-pound projectiles are fired up to seven times the speed of sound at a distance of more than 100 miles. The Navy says the weapon has been tested on land and is scheduled for testing at sea in 2016.

"It's now reality and it's not science fiction. It's actually real. You can look at it. It's firing," Rear Admiral Matt Klunder of the Naval Research team told Reuters in an interview.

The current rail gun prototype can fire a single projectile at a time, but the next phase of development will see a version that can fire multiple shots in rapid succession and auto-load its ammunition, the Navy says.

US officials say the new weapons are being developed to offset the military gains being made by other regional powers, including China. They say the rail gun is specifically designed to neutralize anti-ship ballistic missiles being developed by China.

But the biggest advantage of the laser weapon and the rail gun is their affordability, officials say. One laser beam shot is projected to cost just one dollar while one rail gun's projectile will cost about $25,000. In contrast, missiles can cost up to $1.5 million each.

The U.S. Navy is also developing a stealth-engineered warship that could replace the small vessels used by Navy SEALs. Called "GHOST," the vessel is undetectable at sea and provides a stable platform for powerful weapons.