The Pentagon’s Laser Weapon Era Is Finally Here

This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology.

The U.S. Army has awarded defense contractor AV a $464.8 million contract for the production of high-energy laser weapons under the Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, the service announced—the U.S. military’s first formal directed energy program of record and a major milestone for laser weapons after decades of research and development.

The Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) will see AV equip the Army with 26 30-kilowatt LOCUST X3 laser weapons over the next five years to counter the urgent threat of low-cost weaponized drones, the company said in a statement on Sept. 2. Formally unveiled in March and designed specifically for the E-HEL program, the X3 is the latest iteration of the company’s tried-and-true LOCUST Laser Weapon System that American service members have employed for counter-drone missions from the Middle East to the U.S. southern border with Mexico in recent years.

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