Allen Control Systems launches new division to develop counter-drone lasers

WASHINGTON — Allen Control Systems, a robotics and counter-drone vendor, announced today that it is launching a new directed energy branch aimed at providing US and allied militaries with high-energy lasers to take down adversarial drones. 

“With the threat of low-cost weaponized drones escalating rapidly around the world, the Directed Energy division reflects ACS’s continued investment in developing scalable and cost-effective capabilities so U.S. and allied governments can stay ahead of this urgent national security challenge,” the company said Tuesday in a press release.

ACS manufactures the Bullfrog counter-drone system, a mountable platform that uses artificial intelligence to autonomously track and neutralize drone threats using small caliber ammunition. The company says individual rounds can cost as little as $10 per round, according to its website. 

Earlier this year, former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters the that Pentagon had already bought 12 Bullfrog systems to support its needs for the Iran war.

“The defense industry has invested heavily in directed energy, but generating a powerful beam is only part of the challenge. You still have to find a fast-moving threat, stay on target, and engage it with precision,” Joe Bingold, the company’s CEO and president, said in today’s announcement. “ACS has already demonstrated those capabilities with our Bullfrog autonomous weapon station, and applying that expertise to directed energy is a powerful combination.” 

The company did not specify what kind of laser technology the new division will develop or offer. However, ACS lists its dual-band laser dazzler and its three-kilowatt laser as capabilities under “future development” on its website.

The division will be led by Amanda Clark and John Mason, two former leaders at the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), according to the announcement. Clark was most recently the chief of the directed energy division at SMDC, while Mason was the chief of the command’s directed energy technologies branch.

ACS’s announcement comes amid the Pentagon’s growing interest in laser weapons, which use concentrated beams of energy to heat and destroy targets. The systems can offer a lower-cost way to defeat drones, particularly when compared with firing expensive interceptor missiles at relatively cheap threats.

The Army recently awarded AeroVironment a production contract worth up to $464.8 million for high-energy lasers under the Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, marking the service’s first such award.

The Pentagon is also fielding the Army’s Multipurpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) prototype across the southern border to take down cartel drones, while also testing other emerging laser technologies in the region, as Breaking Defense previously reported. The AMP-HEL system was also reportedly deployed at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in recent weeks.