Solid State Laser News

[Forest Green]

Army awards AV $465 million in first directed energy production contract​

https://insidedefense.com/daily-new...ion-first-directed-energy-production-contract

AeroVironment has won a $465 million contract for the Army’s Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, the company announced today, in what marks the first directed energy production contract for the Pentagon. The company expects to deliver the Army “dozens” of its LOCUST X3 counter-drone weapon, which uses a 30-kilowatt laser to shoot down drones. The system can mount to a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and AV is looking into Infantry Squad Vehicle configurations down the road

 

[Forest Green]

Army divests future IFPC laser, shifts to Navy-led, larger-aperture weapons​

https://insidedefense.com/daily-new...laser-shifts-navy-led-larger-aperture-weapons

The Army is divesting the future Indirect Fire Protection Capability High Energy Laser program -- two years after stripping $4.8 billion from its planned acquisition profile while insisting the move represented a "try" before "buy" strategy -- to leverage Navy-led development of larger-aperture laser weapons. The Defense Department disclosed the decision in a mid-August budget reprogramming request that seeks to shift $2.9 million from fiscal year 2026 funding for the Army’s Lethality Technology program element

 

[bcredman]

Army divests future IFPC laser, shifts to Navy-led, larger-aperture weapons​

https://insidedefense.com/daily-new...laser-shifts-navy-led-larger-aperture-weapons

This divesting of the IFPC laser program has been planned since March according to the following article from Yahoo News:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-army-already-ditching-most-171419644.html , which states:

According to the new CRS report, however, Army officials said the IFPC-HEL contract has since been reduced to a single prototype, which is currently undergoing "final lab testing" at a Lockheed facility in New Jersey ahead of subsequent developmental testing at the service's Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah this summer.

According to officials, that prototype won't end up in the service's hands until at least September, after which it will "be divested as a fielding candidate and used to inform the Joint Laser Warfighting System," according to the CRS report.

In this context, the "Joint Laser Warfighting System" likely means the Pentagon's Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS), a new collaboration between the Army and U.S. Navy initiated "in support of DoD's overarching Golden Dome for America strategy" to develop a laser weapon to "provide an Air Defense capability against cruise missile threats," according to the Army's fiscal year 2026 budget request.

There is more information about JLWS in the following September 9th Defense Daily article: https://www.defensedaily.com/army-t...-2028-pentagons-critical-tech-lead-says/army/

 

[bcredman]

http://abcnews.com/Politics/air-force-secretary-acknowledges-us-weapons-space/story?id=136437923&utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4bafe5d78644b3a91d00f

Air Force secretary acknowledges the US has weapons in space​

Troy Meink's statement is seen as a clear warning to China and Russia.

"...It’s unclear what kind of weapons the U.S. has placed in orbit or how long they have been deployed...Space weapons can include cyber weapons or lasers. They can also include satellites built to crash into others..."