Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Gun-Launched Guided Projectile: Background and Issues

Abstract

Three new ship-based weapons being developed by the Navy solid state lasers (SSLs), the electromagnetic railgun (EMRG), and the gun-launched guided projectile (GLGP), also known as the hypervelocity projectile (HVP)could substantially improve the ability of Navy surface ships to defend themselves against surface craft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and eventually antiship cruise missiles (ASCMs).The Navy has been developing SSLs for several years, and in 2014 installed on a Navy ship its first prototype SSL capable of countering surface craft and UAVs. The Navy since then has been developing and installing additional SSL prototypes with improved capability for countering surface craft and UAVs. Higher-power SSLs being developed by the Navy are to have a capability for countering ASCMs

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 15, 2020
Accession Number
AD1112839

Entities

People

  • Ronald O'Rourke

Organizations

  • Congressional Research Service

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Boats
  • Congress
  • Dazzlers
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Firing Rate
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Naval Operations
  • Navy
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerial Unmanned Vehicle Swarm Micro Periodontal Dentistry.
  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Directed Energy
  • Hypersonics