Home Americas Lockheed delivers first HELIOS 60-kW laser to US Navy

Lockheed delivers first HELIOS 60-kW laser to US Navy

DDG-51 with a HELIOS
Lockheed Martin illustration of the HELIOS system onboard an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) laser weapon system for integration onto an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

The 60-kilowatt laser will become the first deployed laser system integrated into an operational Flight IIA Arleigh Burke destroyer, once fielded later this year.

The high-energy fiber laser is designed to counter unmanned aerial systems and small boats. It will also deliver a long-range ISR capability and counter-UAS dazzler capability with a dazzler designed to obscure adversarial UAS-based ISR capabilities.

Lockheed noted it delivered the laser following the recent demonstration of full laser power in excess of the 60 kW requirement. The scalable laser design architecture spectrally combines multiple kilowatt fiber lasers to attain high beam quality at various power levels.

In addition to being built into the ship’s structure, HELIOS will become an integrated component of the ship’s Aegis combat system. HELIOS is being developed under a $150 million contract awarded to the company in 2018.

Lockheed completed the critical design review and navy factory qualification test milestones for the program in 2020.