History, Politics And Current Affairs

The US Navy released a new photo of USS Preble (DDG-88) firing her HELIOS laser weapon.

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/188 ... 35520?mx=2




As Glenn Reynolds puts it, "This is the 21st century I was promised."

Mr Kozlowski,

Lock phasers and FIRE!

"Mr. Scott, make smoke !!"

Nik_SpeakerToCats wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2025 1:13 am "Mr. Scott, make smoke !!"

I AM makin' smoke, Cap'n. I'm just makin' it over there, where the enemy ship is.

Belushi TD

It will take a lot of electrical power to make that a viable weapon with multiple shots and fast reaction times.

That and the rail gun which also have similar “impact” on strike warfare.

If I understand correctly, only the Flight III DDG’s and the 3 White Elephants of the Zumwalt class have or will have enough sustained electrical generation capacity.

So….

(Hijacking the thread slightly)

The Flight III’s might make a good fit for the directed energy weapons.

The Zumwalts are being equipped with hypersonic strike missiles. Sounds like an excellent use of those 3 ships. Combine that with HELIOS and perhaps even the rail gun and we have a potential warship of truly impressive game changing capabilities.

Sounds like a good definition for the next generation cruiser. A cruiser capable of going into the teeth of a modern opponent’s defenses and sending significant stuff downtown.

A cruiser built for battle.

A Battle Cruiser

((Seeks deep cover)

Did they test that one at the Helios One plant outside (New) Vegas?

Nice to see life imitating art.