![]() Indo-Pacific Command areas of responsibility for "operational assessments," as Breaking Defense reported at the time.īut despite the tactical benefits offered by mobile laser systems, recent operational testing has revealed a major challenge to their widespread adoption: Namely, they're a pain for soldiers to maintain in remote and austere locations, as Gainey told reporters at the time. Sean Gainey, director of the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, revealed that the service had deployed unspecified 10 kW laser systems to U.S. The service fielded a platoon of four laser-toting DE M-SHORAD Strykers in September and reportedly plans on affixing a 20 kW laser weapon on its new Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) assault buggy.Ĭurrently, the Army's myriad laser systems aren't just getting a workout at testing ranges across the United States. The Army's contract with Lockheed Martin comes as the service pushes forward on the development of laser weapons systems across various platforms. ![]() The Army's Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) system. Lockheed Martin had previously delivered a 300 kW laser system developed under the Pentagon's High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI) to the Army in September 2022 for use as an initial IFPC-HEL demonstrator, and the company is currently working under that program to eventually scale to a 500 kW system. The service received $215.34 million for the effort in its fiscal 2023 budget after lawmakers added an additional $40 million in funding to the program. ![]() The Army has requested $85.85 million from Congress for the IFPC-HEL program in fiscal 2024, according to budget documents. military's arsenal to potentially offer reliable protection against the types of cruise missiles used by adversaries like Russia and China, concerns over which have fueled increased emphasis (and, in turn, spending) on directed energy weapons for missile defense in recent years. (Lockheed Martin)Īs a result, the Valkyrie is ostensibly the first laser air defense system in the U.S. An artist's rendering of the Valkyrie loaded onto a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck.
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