A United States Navy warship, armed with a powerful laser weapon capable of destroying both aerial and waterborne threats, departed for Japan on Sunday to keep China at bay.
USS Preble, a 9,700-ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was seen leaving Naval Base San Diego in California. A press release published on August 1 said the Preble would transfer to Yokosuka naval base in Japan, replacing USS Benfold, one of its sister ships, as part of a scheduled rotation of forces in the Pacific region.
Japanese financial magazine Nikkei Asia on Wednesday reported, quoting a U.S. Navy spokesperson, that the Preble is the only destroyer of the same class equipped with a high-energy laser weapon system, which could be used to shoot down hostile drones and missiles.
The U.S. military continues to station the most-capable units in the Indo-Pacific, where China has been expanding its naval fleet and operations at far seas, challenging the U.S. naval dominance in the region.
The Preble's forward presence supported Washington's commitment to the defense of Japan, one of its security treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. Navy said. It would also enhance the U.S. national security and improve its ability to protect strategic interests.
The warship would join Destroyer Squadron 15, the largest U.S. Navy destroyer squadron consisting of 10 ships stationed at Yokosuka. This unit is the principal surface force of the Seventh Fleet, operating in the Western Pacific Ocean and parts of the Indian Ocean.
The destroyer was installed with the 60 kilowatt-class High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS). This is the first tactical laser weapon system to be integrated into existing American warships, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
HELIOS can fire a laser beam to destroy fast inshore attack craft and unmanned aircraft systems. These have been used extensively by Yemen's Houthi rebels against shipping in the Red Sea, as well as the ongoing, large-scale drone warfare between Ukraine and Russia.
Over the East China Sea, a major operating area for the U.S. Navy in the region where China has territorial disputes with Japan, the Chinese military drones have approached the Japanese airspace and Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing views as a rogue province.
HELIOS is capable of functioning as a dazzler to "blind" the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors mounted on hostile unmanned aircraft as well. It can also provide long-range ISR capability for combat identification and battle damage assessment.
Both the Red Sea conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war have shown that a low cost-per-shot capability is an ideal option for warships in countering the relatively inexpensive drones.
Lasers are classified as a directed energy weapon that uses energy fired at the speed of light. Comparing with traditional defensive ship-based artillery such as surface-to-air missiles, this type of weapon could be less expensive per shot and have virtually unlimited firing power.
Lockheed Martin said HELIOS would provide an additional layer of defense for warships with its deep magazine, low cost per kill, speed of light delivery, and precision response. The manufacturer announced in August 2022 that it had delivered a HELIOS to the Navy.
Besides HELIOS, the Preble has 96 vertical launching system cells for firing long-range air-defense missiles. It is also equipped with a naval artillery gun and a close-in weapon system for short-range defense. HELIOS is considered the warship's last line of defense.
The U.S. Navy has another operational but less powerful laser, the lower-power Optical Dazzler Interdictor Navy (ODIN), installed on eight sister ships of the Preble, including USS John Finn, one of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers forward-deployed at Yokosuka.
Unlike HELIOS, ODIN is capable only of "blinding" sensors mounted on drones by firing a laser beam, temporarily degrading their intelligence-gathering capabilities, according to reports by the Congressional Research Service and defense news website The War Zone.
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