Jamie Bennet
Lockheed Martin will develop a 500 kilowatt-class laser as part of its new contract with a Department of Defense office.
The project is the second stage of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative, which started with a 300 kw-class version, Lockheed said Friday.
The 300-kW system was the most powerful laser Lockheed produced at the time of its delivery in September 2022. The technology was designed to integrate with the Indirect Fires Protection Capability-High Energy Laser Demonstrator, which is owned by the U.S. Army.
In the second phase of the program, Lockheed will scale the weapon’s power capacity and optimize its dimensions and efficiency to minimize the need for fielding such a technology across all U.S. military branches.
“The 500-kW laser will incorporate our successes from the 300-kW system and lessons learned from legacy programs to further prove the capability to defend against a range of threats,” said Rick Cordaro, vice president of Lockheed’s mission systems and weapons unit.
