Designing a Laser for the Littoral Combat Ship

This thesis from the Naval Postgraduate School analyzes the employability of laser weapons on a Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class ship to counter small and fast boat threats. A general model of laser weapons is established to identify the attributes that characterize the laser weapon system. Quantitative values of each attribute are compared with current laser systems (that are under development) to identify potential laser types for employment on the Navy ship. In addition, plausible operational scenarios of suicide attacks by multiple (up to three) small and fast motor boats equipped with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) against LCS-class ships are drawn up. These provide input parameters for computation of the required laser parameters to neutralize such threats. Based on the chosen laser technology and the calculated laser parameters, the requirements for employment of the laser weapon system on a Navy ship are determined.