February 11, 2026 at 7:45 PM
CNO: Trump-class battleships could be ‘forcing function’ for Navy to beef up laser efforts
“I want to get behind this. I want this to work,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said of lasers throughout the fleet.
Lockheed Martin concept for their new HELIOS laser for the Navy. (Lockheed martin) WEST 2026 — The Navy’s top officer is on board with advancing laser weapons — and believes the new Trump-class battleships will drive the service to equip other Navy ships with the weapons, too. While Chief of Naval Operations Adm.
Daryl Caudle said that he believed the Navy hasn’t “put the demand signal out there to go all in on solving some of the technological challenges on shipboard laser utilization,” he expects that to change under his watch. “This is the time for this. This is a vision I have,” Caudle told reporters on Monday.