Jared Keller

Formerly @jaredbkeller. I write @LaserWarsHQ, a newsletter on military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology:

[Jared Keller @iamjaredbkeller]

Should have used Las Meninas IMHO

[rat king 🐀 @MikeIsaac]

meta mad at this story b/c the company has stressed it has this is still "exploratory"

but you have to admit that using a Foucault photo to test the facial recognition code is pure poetry

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

When life gives you crayons, draw a beam director

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

https://t.co/zPOWfPFX4l

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Welcome to the Laser Wars

[Jared Keller @iamjaredbkeller]

👇

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

There are officially too many military laser weapon developments unfolding on a regular basis for me to write about in individual Laser Wars newsletter editions

Would you read a separate weekly round-up of goings-on in the directed energy space, on top of regular articles?

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

There are officially too many military laser weapon developments unfolding on a regular basis for me to write about in individual Laser Wars newsletter editions

Would you read a separate weekly round-up of goings-on in the directed energy space, on top of regular articles?

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

NEW: “We now have a suite of directed energy products that go from low-end to high-end, and now we have to scale production of those,” Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) Emil Michael told lawmakers last week

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

NEW: How the Aum Shinrikyo sect behind the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack undertook a years-long global quest to acquire laser technology.

[Jared Keller @iamjaredbkeller]

@DKThomp Osama bin Laden is dead and the blogosphere is alive!

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

NEW: In a posture statement delivered to the House Armed Services Committee on May 14, Chief of Naval Operations (and noted directed energy champion) Adm. Daryl Caudle delivered a forceful argument for why high-energy laser weapons are a necessity for the sea service — namely, to take over missile defense from kinetic interceptors and free up space for offensive weapons across the Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which he proclaimed “the workhorse of the surface Fleet, as illustrated clearly by Operation Epic Fury.”

“Directed energy is a critical component of future naval warfare, particularly for ballistic missile and terminal defense,” Caudle stated. “The current paradigm, which forces a trade-off between defensive interceptors and offensive strike weapons within the limited space of the Vertical Launching System (VLS), is unsustainable. Every VLS cell used for a defensive missile is a lost opportunity for a long-range offensive strike.”

But Caudle’s testimony also contained an admission that the dream of a laser fleet remains a dream deferred — at least, until the Navy can actually build it.

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Some rough math on this engagement:

Nine surface combatants, assuming all Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, means around 864 VLS cells. With 207 Tomahawks launched, that potentially means less than 25% of VLS capacity was devoted to offensive weapons

Therefore, the most significant US naval combat operations since World War II involved a destroyer fleet going into the fight with roughly three-quarters of its magazine committed to self-defense

No wonder the Chief of Naval Operations put such a heavy premium on directed energy in his May 14 posture statement to Congress ... https://t.co/J8tedncx5x

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Just a reminder that the US Defense Intelligence Agency once commissioned a lithograph depicting a Soviet combat vehicle armed with a laser weapon rolling through a mountain pass in Afghanistan

“Soviet Mobile Laser in Afghanistan” by Edward L. Cooper, 1985

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

⚡️ The UAE has gone laser crazy

To recap:

▪️April 15: A @FedRegister arms sales notification mentions a High Energy Laser Weapon System "being purchased by the [UAE] via Direct Commercial Sales (DCS)" [https://t.co/mCsiI5Gfs4]

▪️April 30: @FT reports that Israel rushed an Iron Beam laser weapon to UAE [https://t.co/F854LF0DK1] even though the IDF says they don't have the batteries to make it work [https://t.co/eoFV0ECnn6]

▪️May 5: A Chinese laser weapon (said to be the Guangjian-21A/"Light Arrow") crops up at an unspecified airport in the UAE (see below). This comes well after a June 2023 @TacticalReport note claimed the two countries were in talks regarding over laser system procurement [https://t.co/9GLSMNlAPZ]

[Jared Keller @iamjaredbkeller]

The best thing about not being a full-time journalist anymore is not getting involved in dumb salary discussions but I also made $35,000 as an associate editor at The Atlantic in 2010 so do with that what you will

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

The Pentagon reads Laser Wars

So should you: https://t.co/r1MsXaSAgA

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

BREAKING: The US Navy Tested a Laser Weapon on an Aircraft Carrier At Sea

Photos published to @DVIDSHub show a containerized LOCUST Laser Weapon System from defense contractor AV set up on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush for a live-fire test on October 5, 2025.

During the live-fire event, LOCUST "effectively detected, tracked, engaged, and neutralized multiple unmanned aerial vehicles marking a milestone toward fielding operational directed energy capabilities," according to the US Navy https://t.co/Gj2KcVsJ5M

(Photos: US Navy)

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Laser Wars 🤝 @defense_news

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Laser Wars 🤝 @FastCompany

https://t.co/Hmeq5GXjAU

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Publishing tomorrow ...

[Jared Keller @iamjaredbkeller]

Eat shit @sofrepofficial

[Laser Wars @laserwarsHQ]

Dear @sofrepofficial

Say it with me now: "the news was first reported by Laser Wars"

Also your rip of my story was clearly composed with AI

Fucking pathetic

https://t.co/VuixlkpMC5