--- description: The Navy announced that it had deployed and fired a laser weapon this fall aboard a warship in the Persian Gulf. title: Navy Successfully Tests Laser Weapon in the Persian Gulf image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfb398d93c83143d/69876e0255a8590fd3a84a7f/screen-shot-2014-12-09-at-4-32-38-pm.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Zap_ Wars: U.S. Navy Successfully Tests Laser Weapon in the Persian Gulf by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2014 4:57 PM CUT  The world’s first deployed laser weapon, aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf. The world’s first deployed laser weapon, aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf.Navy photo—John F. Williams by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2014 4:57 PM CUT For decades, the Pentagon has been saying that laser weapons are just around the corner. Thursday, the U.S. military finally turned that corner. The Navy announced that it had deployed and fired a laser weapon this fall aboard a warship in the Persian Gulf. During a series of test shots, the laser hit and destroyed targets mounted atop a small boat, blasted a six-foot drone from the sky, and destroyed other moving targets. “This is the first time in recorded history that a directed energy weapons system has ever deployed on anything,” Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, told reporters at the Pentagon. “A lot of people talk about it—we decided to go do it.” The Navy’s laser weapon system—LaWS, in sea-service jargon—was fired from the [_USS Ponce_](http://www.ponce.navy.mil/ "undefined"), a one-time amphibious ship that was converted to an “afloat forward staging base” in 2012 and assigned to the 5th Fleet in Bahrain. Firing a laser from the surface of the Persian Gulf is challenging because heat, humidity, dust and salt water can reduce its power. The Navy spent about $40 million over the past seven years developing LaWS, which actually consists of six commercial welding lasers lashed together and aimed at the same point. It has proven effective at ranges of up to about a mile. A chief petty officer, sitting inside the ship’s combat information center, directs the solid-state laser with an Xbox-like controller. It generates about 30 kilowatts of destructive power, roughly equal to 40 horsepower. Three times as much power is lost as heat rather than light. Navy officers say the weapon’s power is adjustable, ranging from _distract_ to _disable_ to _destroy_. They added it would be ideal for asymmetric threats, including small attack boats (a favorite tactic of Iran, which undoubtedly was paying close attention to the tests off its shore). U.S. Central Command has given the _Ponce’_s skipper approval to use the laser for self-defense, if needed. “Light from a laser beam can reach a target almost instantly,” a July congressional report [said](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/r41526.pdf "undefined"). “After disabling one target, a laser can be redirected in several seconds to another target. Fast engagement times can be particularly important in situations, such as near-shore operations, where missiles, rockets, artillery shells, and mortars could be fired at Navy ships from relatively close distances.” But lasers can be disabled by bad weather, and are limited to line-of-sight confrontations. Initially, they’ll complement a warship’s traditional longer-range guns and missiles. The lessons learned from the _Ponce_ tests will be cranked into a new generation of laser weaponry, which the Navy hopes to begin installing on the fleet in the early 2020s. Such weapons are safer than traditional shells and missiles, which are crammed with explosives and propellant. They’re considerably cheaper, too: the energy required to fire the _Ponce_’s laser costs 59 cents a shot, compared to a shell or missile, which can cost $1 million or more. _Read next:_ [_U.S. Closes Bagram Prison in Afghanistan_](http://time.com/3629643/u-s-bagram-afghanistan/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3628047/navy-laser-weapon-test-persian-gulf/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3628047/navy-laser-weapon-test-persian-gulf/"},"headline":"Zap Wars: U.S. Navy Successfully Tests Laser Weapon in the Persian Gulf","datePublished":"2014-12-10T16:57:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:54.471Z","description":"Service says ray gun can handle multiple threats at 59 cents a shot","url":"https://time.com/3628047/navy-laser-weapon-test-persian-gulf/","keywords":["Tech","Military","Technology","Weapons","National Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfb398d93c83143d/69876e0255a8590fd3a84a7f/screen-shot-2014-12-09-at-4-32-38-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Thompson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfb398d93c83143d/69876e0255a8590fd3a84a7f/screen-shot-2014-12-09-at-4-32-38-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2014-12-09 at 4.32.38 PM","caption":"The world’s first deployed laser weapon, aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf.","creditText":"Navy photo—John F. Williams","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3628047/navy-laser-weapon-test-persian-gulf/","name":"Zap Wars: U.S. Navy Successfully Tests Laser Weapon in the Persian Gulf"}}]}] ```