US Army Launches Laser Production with $465M Contract Award
The deal moves LOCUST X3 from prototype to production and will equip Army platforms with a 30-kilowatt laser that costs under $5 per shot.
- On Wednesday, the U.S. Army awarded AeroVironment a $464.8 million contract for the Enduring-High Energy Laser program, marking the service's first formal directed energy production contract.
- Mounting costs of the Iran war prompted the military to seek low-cost counter-drone weapons, aiming to destroy cheap unmanned systems like the Shahed-136 without exhausting costly missile stockpiles.
- AeroVironment will deliver 26 LOCUST X3 laser weapons over the next five years, with the 30-kilowatt system featuring AI-driven targeting and a common Xbox controller for efficient drone destruction.
- Earlier this year, the company invested $30 million in its Albuquerque, New Mexico, manufacturing facility to support production and meet the Army's requirement for immediate production capacity.
- Integration plans include the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and the Infantry Squad Vehicle , as military officials view these systems as essential effectors within a broader, connected layered defense ecosystem.
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Defense News
US Army launches laser production with $465M contract award
The U.S. Army awarded a $464.8 million production contract to AeroVironment, Inc., this week for the Enduring-High Energy Laser program (E-HEL), marking the first production contract for a directed energy system in the U.S. military’s history, the company stated in a release Wednesday.Rather than deploying missiles to shoot down unmanned aircraft, the E-HEL fires a laser beam at its targets and can reload its magazine through the system’s power …
AeroVironment Rises 6% on $464.8M Army Laser Award, Unusual Machines and Red Cat Tick Up
The U.S. Army just crossed a threshold it has never crossed before, and one battered defense stock is suddenly the center of a sector-wide scramble to figure out what comes next.
US Army to procure 30-kW anti drone laser weapon systems
The U.S. Army is moving laser weapons toward large-scale deployment, awarding AeroVironment a $464.8 million contract to produce its LOCUST laser systems for counter-drone missions. The contract is for the Army’s Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program and will see AeroVironment deliver dozens of LOCUST X3 systems over the next few years. The company describes the award as the first production contract for a directed-energy weapon in U.S. his…
US Army buys laser weapons in a $464.8m contract
In late August the US Army fired a high-energy laser at three drones near the Mexican border. All three came down. A week later the Army signed the contract to buy the production version. AeroVironment announced on Wednesday that it has won a $464.8m award from the Army’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fires. The company […] This story continues at The Next Web
U.S. Army awards AV $464.8 million laser weapon deal
The US Army has awarded defense contractor AV a $464.8 million contract to produce high-energy laser weapons under the Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, the Army’s first formal directed energy program of record, according to Laser Wars. Under the Other Transaction Agreement, AV will deliver 26 of its 30 kilowatt LOCUST X3 laser weapons […]
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