Boeing announced on Twitter yesterday that the company is ready to support U.S. Navy with modern Compact Laser Weapon System, commonly known as the silent strike.
U.S. defense contractor announced on its Twitter account that: “We are ready to support U.S. Navy with our Compact Laser Weapon System. It is mobile, modular and ready to disable small boats at sea and defeat unmanned aerial systems.”
The Compact Laser Weapon Systems, or CLWS, is a portable laser system and can stand alone or pair with weapon platforms on vehicles or ships.
According to AFCEA International, for ground-based applications, the weapon can be placed on a tripod and on top of its corresponding military container, which houses the electric power and cooling subsystems.
The Silent Strike uses a 2 kW laser. The full laser weapon system, including the command-and-control and fire control components, are packed into a small shipping container. The total weight of a single CLWS system, including the container, is 2,267.96 kg.
The CLWS is already part of the Army’s Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser program. It’s deployed on Stryker vehicle in Europe and has been used in field experiments.
