HELIOS

HELIOS, short for High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, is a directed-energy laser weapon system developed by Lockheed Martin for the United States Navy, awarded by contract in 2018 and reaching initial operational status aboard USS Preble in 2019 as part of the Aegis Combat System on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. It operates at 60 kilowatts with the ability to expand to 120 kilowatts, offering both a soft-kill sensor-dazzling capability and a hard-kill capability to structurally damage targets such as drones, fast-attack craft, and missiles. Because it draws on the ship's own power and cooling rather than ammunition, it can engage repeatedly as long as those systems hold out, with long-range surveillance and engagement reported to about 6 miles. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/