Lasers, they are truly upon US.

So we have laser defense systems being used by the US Navy...

Ponce became the testbed platform for the Laser Weapon System (LaWS), with installation of a prototype weapon system for field testing in August 2014.[29][30][31] In December 2014 the United States Navy reported the LaWS system works perfectly, and that the commander of Ponce is authorized to use the system as a defensive weapon.[32] On 9 December 2014, the U.S. Navy released video footage of the LaWS in operation.[33] The exact level of power the LaWS will use is unknown but estimated between 15–50 kW for engaging drones, small aircraft and high-speed boats.[34] Ponce was deployed to the Persian Gulf in late August 2014.[35][36] The LaWS will remain in use on Ponce as long as it is at sea, potentially into 2017.[37]

USS Ponce (LPD-15)

The US Army has them and they will be fielded...

The Army and General Dynamics Land Systems are developing a Stryker-mounted laser weapon aimed at better arming the vehicle to incinerate enemy drones or threatening ground targets.

Concept vehicles are now being engineered and tested at the Army’s Ft. Sill artillery headquarters as a way to quickly develop the weapon for operational service. During a test this past April, the laser weapons successful shot down 21 out of 23 enemy drone targets.

The effort marks the first-ever integration of an Army laser weapon onto a combat vehicle.

Stryker mounted laser

Boeing’s High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) team has used a solid state laser to destroy mortars and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A laser destroys targets with pinpoint precision within seconds of acquisition, then acquires the next target and keeps firing. In recent demonstrations, HEL MD used a 10-kilowatt, high energy laser installed on an Oshkosh tactical military vehicle. The demonstrator is the first mobile, high-energy laser, counter rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) platform to be built and demonstrated by the U.S. Army.

Source w/video

And now after the Air Force originally called lasers off, they've gone and called the game back on. After the success of the Navy and the Army.

The contract, which was awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on 23 August, is for the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) Turret Research in Aero-Effects (STRAFE) programme.

It is intended that the SHiELD pod would better enable the USAF's fourth-generation fighter fleet, such as the Boeing F-15 Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, to survive in contested airspace. The fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II would probably not carry the pod, as it would negate their stealth characteristics.

ShiELD info

Lasers are upon on the USA.

They have permeated every aspect of our military.

Can anyone else say that?

a reply to: thesungod

The USS Ponce was with the group of ships that had missiles fired at them off Yemen recently.
I brought up in another thread that maybe the Ponce was there for a reason... to try some testing of that laser system on some real targets.
I know it might be a reach, but if our satellites saw antiship missiles set up there, it is a possibility.

a reply to: butcherguy

Yep and I had the same thought but no proof of use.

Maybe. Between radar stations and drones you can definitely target a ship in international waters with easy. So it may have seen some action.

a reply to: thesungod

The USSR/Russia who we bought much of the tech from post 89...

South Africa / Israel

Maybe China too but maybe not...

The Chinese definitely know to be wary of enemy battlefield lasers since reportedly the Russians used them against China in the 1969 border war.

Awesome tech, needs a lot of power though. I get giggly when I burst balloons with my wicked laser Spyder 3 Arctic.

Would be great if they can use them to take down ballistic missiles.

That name though, Ponce, unfortunate. It'll have us UK folks giggling everytime we hear it.

a reply to: thesungod


You missed the best one its a free electron laser. Think of it as shooting a beam of electricity at a target. Guaranteed to destroy incoming missiles


www.onr.navy.mil...

a reply to: thesungod

The combat laser for the AC-130J gunship is “rapidly moving” from the concept to the practice according to General Brad Webb, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command. Webb recently visited MIT Lincoln Labs to view its advancements, and saw Naval Sea Systems Command Dahlgren’s latest efforts to network all of the various components within the aircraft.
...

Over the next year, the command plans to make major strides in the development of the technology, Webb said.

nextbigfuture.com, April 25, 2017 - US Military is close to an operational combat laser on the AC-130J gunship.

The Air Force is in after seeing the Navy's weapons. They are taking lessons learned from their precision gun mounting and looking for excess vibrations. The install and testing will be over 2017. One year is a pretty short time.

In the future, everybody is going to have freakin' lasers!!