US Navy Begins Building 400kW Laser Weapon to Counter Drones and Hypersonic Threats
The US Navy has begun developing one of the most powerful laser weapons ever designed for a warship. Known as SONGBOW, this cutting-edge system is being built to neutralize high-speed aerial threats such as drone swarms, cruise missiles, and even hypersonic glide vehicles — all at the speed of light.
Backed by a $29.9 million contract from the Office of Naval Research, the SONGBOW project is being led by Coherent Aerospace & Defense, a company specializing in advanced laser technologies. The initial development phase will last 20 months, but with options to continue the program through 2027, the Navy clearly sees long-term value in this high-energy solution.
At the heart of SONGBOW is a powerful 400-kilowatt laser, a massive upgrade compared to the Navy’s current HELIOS laser system, which operates at around 60 kilowatts. To reach this unprecedented level of power, SONGBOW uses an innovative approach: it combines multiple 50-kilowatt pulsed fiber laser modules into a single, coherent beam. This modular configuration not only boosts total power output but also maintains precision and beam quality during prolonged use.
One of the key advantages of laser weapons like SONGBOW is their instantaneous response time. Unlike missiles or bullets, which take seconds or minutes to reach their targets, lasers travel at the speed of light, drastically cutting down reaction time in combat. This is especially critical when facing modern threats such as hypersonic weapons, which move too fast for traditional systems to intercept easily.
The laser is guided by an advanced beam control system that ensures accurate targeting even at long distances or during fast-moving engagements. While its primary mission is direct energy defense—disabling or destroying incoming threats—it could also serve secondary roles like remote sensing and battlefield illumination.
Though designed primarily for naval deployment, SONGBOW is being developed with land-based applications in mind. This aligns with the Pentagon’s broader effort to make directed-energy weapons a standard part of multi-domain defense—on land, sea, and possibly air platforms in the future.
Importantly, SONGBOW is not meant to replace existing systems but to complement them. It’s expected to work in coordination with conventional interceptors like the Aegis Combat System and SM-6 missiles, forming a layered defense network capable of handling everything from low-flying drones to ultra-fast hypersonic gliders.
If successful, SONGBOW could mark a turning point in naval warfare, giving US warships the ability to defend themselves with an essentially unlimited magazine, using only power from the ship’s electrical systems—no ammunition, no reloads, just pure directed energy.
