Ship-Borne Laser Zaps Target a Mile Away

Lasers can help defend ships by keeping small boat threats at a safe distance. The Navy and Northrop Grumman recently tested the Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD), in which a ship-borne laser system disabled a small target boat. It’s quite a challenge—put a laser on a platform that moves and tilts in all three dimensions, then maintain aim of the laser beam on a target, also moving, more than a mile away. Make sure your laser, stabilization system and targeting system can all withstand sea spray and water turbulence and compensate for the motion. And package the system to more or less fit in a shipping container.