Defense Blog reports that an update on HELIOS was published in a January 2025 report by the US Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation. The report includes an image of the USS Preble deploying its HELIOS weapon system at sea — one of the clearest images of the laser weapon in action to date.
"The US Center for Countermeasures (CCM) supported the Navy's demonstration on USS Preble (DDG 88) to verify and validate the functionality, performance, and capability of the HEL with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance system against an unmanned aerial vehicle target. CCM collected imagery of the engagements to support the evaluation of system performance," the annual report said.
HELIOS is currently rated at 60 kilowatts and can scale up to 120 kilowatts, significantly enhancing Preble's lethality against kamikaze drones. The laser weapon provides an operational advantage: unlimited firing capacity as long as power is available. This reduces the weight and space on the missile destroyer but reduces the cost-per-round from tens of thousands of dollars to just a few bucks.
"HELIOS represents a major step forward in naval warfare, providing a cost-effective countermeasure against drones, small boats, and other asymmetric threats," the military blog said, adding, "The U.S. Navy has been expanding its directed energy arsenal, and the HELIOS-equipped USS Preble joins a growing number of Navy ships fielding high-energy laser weapons."
We have been following the progression of directed energy weapons on US warships over the last decade:
- 2016: US Navy To Begin Testing Powerful 150-Kilowatt Laser Weapon System
- 2017: "The Technology Is Getting Real" - Laser Weapons Edge Closer To Battlefield Use
- 2017: Navy Unveils World's First Active Laser Weapon In Persian Gulf
- 2019: Navy Ready To "Burn Boats" With New Laser Weapon
- 2019: Raytheon Shoots Down Multiple Drones With Directed Laser Weapon
- 2021: US Navy Tests New Laser Weapon Off Yemen Coast
Reader Comments
But Russian anti-ship missiles are directly designed to defeat Western air defense systems. First, they begin to maneuver "wildly" as soon as they enter the tracking zone, throwing off AD missiles.
Second, they use to attack from blind spots. The Onyx and other missiles are sea skimmers, usually only detected a few seconds before impact. And other like the Zirkon attack vertically, another sector not covered by AEGIS and other radar systems.
Not to mention, the Mach 10+ speed missiles defeat any AD system by the sheer speed alone, and can effectively take out a carrier with one hit.
Except for the Zirkon, this is generally state of the art, not just the Russian arsenal. As an American general lately said, there are only two kinds of warships - submarines and targets. The era of aircraft carriers is over. Look how the third-world-dagger-wielding Houthies kept mighty US carriers at bay over the last months ...
Technicalities are usually beyond this people, they have zero (!) education or comprehension in this regard.
And I explicitly include journalists and politicians here.
I saw the "Fight Club" movie. Not too bad ...
But the main character behind ZeroHedge, calling himself "Tyler Durden", was an investment banker before starting his web career - AFAIK. The "hedge" is a dead giveaway here - a common expression in banking.
Wonder how you could defend against such raw fire power?
Let me ask "Mirror, Mirror, on the..."
Which makes the whole laser thingy a pretentious daylight robbery.