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The _Freedom_-class littoral combat ship (LCS) USS _Little Rock _(LCS-9) will get a new laser weapon system during an upcoming deployment some time later this year, according to the

Commander of U.S. Naval Surface Forces Vice Admiral Richard Brown. _U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) News_ reported on January 13 that U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin is set to install a

150-kilowatt laser weapon system aboard the LCS. The laser weapon will reportedly be used for defense against incoming unnamed aerial vehicles and other small aircraft. It could also be

deployed against smaller surface vessels like speedboats. Neither the U.S. Navy nor Lockheed Martin revealed additional details of the type of laser weapon to be installed aboard the USS

_Little Rock_.  In the past, the U.S. Navy installed laser weapons for evaluation and testing on the amphibious transport dock ships USS _Portland_ and USS _Ponce_, as well as the guided

missile destroyer USS _Dewey_. According to _USNI News_, the Navy is conducting research on a number of different laser weapon systems including the Solid-State Laser – Technology Maturation

system (SSL-TM), the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS), and the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN). While SSL-TM has been designed for

amphibious assault ships, the HELIOS will reportedly be installed aboard guided-missile destroyers. The USS _Little Rock _was commissioned in December 2017. It was the ninth LCS to enter

service with the U.S. Navy and the fifth of the _Freedom_-class variant. LCSs are divided into two separate variants, the trimaran hull _Independence_ and mono hull _Freedom_ classes. Ships

of the _Freedom_-class variant are built by a Lockheed Martin team at Marinette in Wisconsin, while production of _Independence_-class LCSs is led by Austal USA in Alabama. They each are

capable of building up two LCS per year. As I noted previously: > _[W]ith 40 percent of the hull reconfigurable, both LCS variants use > an open architecture design, enabling the 

warships to be fitted with > interchangeable so-called mission packages providing capabilities > for surface warfare (SUW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and mine > countermeasures 

(MCM) missions in the littoral zone._ The ASW warfare package was expected to become available to the fleet last year, while the MCM package will reportedly be available in 2020. Lockheed

Martin has been working on improving the combat capabilities of both LCS variants in a two-phased plan. According to the Pentagon’s office of Operational Test and Evaluation neither the 

_Independence_ nor _Freedom_ variants are suitable for high-intensity combat. The USS_ Little Rock_ is based in Mayport, Florida and will most probable join the Navy’s 4th Fleet, responsible

for Central and South America.