Pentagon Awards Contracts to Develop Laser Weapons Against Cruise Missiles, Drones

The Department of War (DoW) announced yesterday the award of two Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) to advance the United States' defenses against cruise missile and unmanned aerial system (UAS).

The contracts with nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight, executed by the Department's Scaled Directed Energy (SCADE) Critical Technology Area (CTA), have an initial award value of $86 million and a total program ceiling of $847 million.

The JLWS program is intended to transition directed energy capabilities from demonstration prototypes into field-ready, production-oriented platforms. By developing containerized high-energy laser weapons, the DoW aims to provide combatant commanders with scalable, cost-effective intercept solutions for asymmetric and high-tier adversary threats.

These prototype systems offer critical operational advantages over traditional kinetic systems, including speed-of-light engagement, exceptionally deep magazines and significantly lower cost-per-intercept, attributes essential for countering high-volume UAS swarms and advanced cruise missile threats.

To address urgent operational demands, initial JLWS prototypes will be rated at approximately 150 kW. Subsequent iterations will be scaled to reach the 300–500 kW threshold required for robust cruise missile defense.

Additionally, by leveraging a laser source developed under the OUSW(R&E) High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI), a 500-kW integrated system will concurrently be developed. Utilizing containerized form factors, the systems will be designed for modular integration across both ground and naval platforms, enabling rapid fielding across various geographic combatant commands.

"We must actively defend the homeland against emerging threats," said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. "We are partnering with industry to rapidly deliver deep magazine directed energy capabilities to the Joint Force that can be seamlessly deployed across multiple domains."