If you want to build a laser weapon, start small and go from there.
That's one of the principles underlying the Firestrike laser from Northrop Grumman. A demonstration prototype of that system called Gamma has proved its mettle in a recent test-firing, the defense contractor announced yesterday/.../
The Gamma laser is designed to be scaled up. The demonstrator system is a single "chain" that could be combined with other chains to create more powerful weapons. And in the "lethality testing," it was fired over just a short distance, though Northrop Grumman says that was good enough to simulate the effects that a laser weapon of several chains aboard a Navy ship could achieve at a range of several miles.
Solid-state lasers could be the quickest ticket to a fully functioning directed-energy weapon in the hands of tomorrow's soldiers, sailors, and air crews, according to a recent report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington, D.C., think tank: "New electrically powered, solid-state lasers (SSLs) may be the most promising alternatives for laser weapons that can be mounted on large mobile platforms such as surface naval vessels."
That report also urged the Pentagon to support the U.S. Navy as the first adopter for weaponizing a 100-megawatt (or better) solid-state laser, arguing that surface ships are well-suited to the role because they have sufficient power, volume, and cooling capacity. Laser weapons, the report says, would be part of a layered defense, along with more traditional weaponry, against unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship cruise missiles, and fast attack craft/.../