WWII hand-powered lathe from Liberty Ship - photo

[mklotz]

Years ago I worked on the design of fire control systems for high-energy laser weapons. A multi-megawatt laser doesn't have to stare very long into the sensor of an IR-guided missile before it's blind; stare a little longer and there's a hole through its computer. With other forms of missile guidance you have to stare a bit longer but, done miles out from impact, the chance of the missile scoring a hit, or even staying airborne, is pretty small.

In those days, these lasers were too big to put in aircraft, but a multi-thousand ton warship would make a good platform.

My point is that, unless you have the proper security clearances, you have no idea about what may be coming in the way of defending land and sea based assets. The Phalanx...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS

works for close-in missile defense [even the Iowa museum ship has a couple], but laser weapons can engage at greater ranges.

All warfare is a tit-for-tat contest between offensive and defensive weapon designers and the dynamics of that are unknown to us.