The Navy has disclosed that the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Preble successfully test-fired its High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system to take out an aerial target drone in Fiscal Year 2024. It was the latest major demonstration of the surface fleet’s shipboard laser ambitions, even as other U.S. military laser efforts have faced a reality check in recent years.
Preble’s drone zapping was “to verify and validate the functionality, performance and capability” of HELIOS, and this latest step toward moving shipboard lasers into a fully operational state was revealed in the Pentagon’s annual Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOTE) report that was released Friday night.
Little else was disclosed in the DOTE report regarding where and when Preble, a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke subvariant, fired its laser. The warship shifted homeports from San Diego to Japan in September, just a few days before the end of FY24. TWZ has reached out to the Navy for more information on the test and where HELIOS currently stands, and this report will be updated when that information comes in.
Either way, it’s a capability that Navy brass has been increasingly clamoring for, especially in the past year, as Navy warships shoot down an at-times daily barrage of drones and missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Those battles and other global flashpoints have raised continued concerns about the Navy draining its finite missile stocks, as the pacing threat of China looms on the horizon. TWZ has reported on several aspects of the Navy’s battle against the Houthis, including a tally of ordnance expended during more than 400 engagements against the Houthi arsenal of aerial drones, anti-ship cruise missiles, and anti-ship ballistic missiles.
“When I was in Bahrain as [the Destroyer Squadron 50 commanding officer] 10 years ago, the afloat staging base USS Ponce had a laser on it,” Naval Surface Forces Commander Vice Adm. Brendan McLane told reporters in early 2024, before the Surface Navy Association conference. “We’re 10 years down the road, and we still don’t have something we can field?”