Why the Navy isn’t shooting down Houthi drones with lasers yet
A paradox is slowing the service's drive to replace expensive missiles with theoretically better energy weapons.
PATRICK TUCKER | JANUARY 2, 2024 10:15 PM ET
The U.S. Navy warships shooting down Houthi drones and rockets in recent weeks have generally done so with guns and missiles that are far more expensive than the threats they head off. And notably absent from U.S. officials' statements about the incidents are the next-generation directed-energy weapons the military has spent years developing to do precisely this job.
A recent Congressional Research Service report offers some clues as to why.
The Navy isn't having much trouble swatting down the Houthis' Iranian-made drones, even when they're launched by the dozen. But the Pentagon is beginning to worry about using $11 million interceptor missiles to take out drones that can cost as little as a few thousand dollars
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2024/01/why-navy-isnt-shooting-down-houthi-drones-lasers-yet/393067/
