The commander of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has his eyes on three specific technologies that would improve the lot of those who fight the nation’s wars. “What keeps me up at night is how to get technology to the warfighter – and how to make the business and execution of science more effective and efficient,” Rear Adm. Mat Winter, the chief of Naval Research, told an audience at a Jan. 15 meeting of the Surface Navy Association in Arlington, Va. The programs Winter highlighted are:
Ground-Based Air Defense Directed Energy On-the-Move (GBAD), a laser weapon system capable of shooting down unmanned aerial vehicles and mountable on the back of a Joint
Light Tactical Vehicle or Humvee.
LaWS – The shipboard laser weapon, now deployed on the amphibious transport dock Ponce.
The Electromagnetic Railgun, which uses extremely high electrical currents to hurl projectiles at six times the speed of sound, to distances in excess of 100 nautical miles.
