New Laser-based Anti-Drone System Installed on US Destroyer

The United States Navy has installed the first Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) anti-drone laser weapon system on its USS Dewey (DDG 105) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

“The first ODIN system was installed on the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105), during her recently completed Dry-Docking Selected Restricted Availability,” the navy said in a statement last week.

ODIN’s development, testing and production was done by Navy subject matter experts at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren Division in support of Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems. Their work on the laser weapon system known as LaWS, positioned them to be designated as the design and production agent for ODIN.

Going from an approved idea to installation in two and a half years, ODIN’s install on Dewey will be the first operational employment of the stand-alone system that functions as a dazzler. The system allows the Navy to rapidly deploy an important, new capability to the Navy’s surface force in combating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) threats, the navy said.

The ODIN will now be evaluated by the navy to enable sooner operational deployment. “Within the next couple of years, the ODIN program will have all units operational within the fleet providing a safer and more technically advanced capability to the US Navy. Lessons learned from ODIN’s installation on Dewey will inform installation on future vessels and further development and implementation of Surface Navy Laser Weapon Systems,” the navy added.

The ODIN is the technological successor of the Laser Weapons System, or LaWS, a 30-kilowatt laser installed on the amphibious transport dock Ponce in 2014. However, LaWS was never deployed on an active warship.