Read the article, too much info public. We told the world what type of laser, who makes it and extent of progress. Stupid thing to do. We live in precarious times, any advancement in technologies must be kept secret because our globalist corporations would teach it to our enemies and competitors for the mighty profit. China may not be able to make it immediately but she now knows which corporation to target for espionage and have her counter measure folks draw from the clue that the USN uses solid state lasers. Unlike the US, authoritarian gov can mass resources quickly to catch up while we languish in Congress to get the device into production at exorbitant prices. If the US wants to survive the challenges of the late 21st Century trade secrets and tech secrets well kept will insure her people will have good jobs (social stability) and more advanced (military and economics) then her allies and enemies. Ancient China rose above all Asian neighbors due to her ability to keep silk manufacturing secret until the late 1700’s. US may need to study that technology model in lieu of the suicidal free trade model.
Now go field test it in the Indian Ocean along the coastal waters of Somalia and Yemen.
Sorry, but a careful reading of scientific and military literature clued in open source intelligence a while back. Note that this doesn’t give any details about how the thing really works.
All of the information you complain about being released is already in the public federal budget and notices of contract awards, etc.
Completely black programs are difficult to manage and inflate costs as much as 20%.
Rest assured there are Naval black programs, however.
No doubt the peasants continued to cherish linen and cotton clothing anyway.
What you are thinking of are the Japanese silk kingdoms. They raised the worms and the berries and exported the boles. As a result the Japanese did not develop an indigenous silk industry until the arrival of Buddhism about 560 AD.