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 to the Army over the next five years. The systems are meant to counter low-cost weaponized drones.

The X3 was formally unveiled in March and built specifically for the E-HEL program. It is the latest version of AV’s LOCUST Laser Weapon System, which American troops have already used for counter-drone missions from the Middle East to the US-Mexico border.

The Army’s fiscal year 2027 budget request called for the procurement of two E-HEL systems at $17.4 million apiece, with plans to field up to 24 additional units over the following five and a half years, according to a draft request for proposals from the service’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fires published in January.

“This award marks a defining moment not only for AV, but for the future of modern defense,” said AV Chairman and CEO Wahid Nawabi.

“The transition of directed energy from experimentation to an enduring, fielded capability reflects years of collaboration, innovation, and operational success alongside the US Army. We are proud to deliver these production systems and support the Army’s mission with scalable, modular, and cost-effective defense solutions.”

The Army first announced E-HEL in a July 2024 special notice, describing it as a modular system built on lessons from two earlier LOCUST-based programs. One is the 20 kilowatt Palletized-High Energy Laser, which conducted live-fire testing from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in October 2025. The other is the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser, a vehicle-mounted system tested over the past year from the back of the service’s Infantry Squad Vehicle and Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

The Department of War has gradually expanded its use of laser weapons overseas to protect troops from drones. The Army sent several Palletized-High Energy Laser systems to an undisclosed location, likely within the US Central Command area of operations, starting in 2022. Four Stryker-mounted, 50 kilowatt Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense systems followed in 2024 for in-theater testing before that program was later canceled. In July, the US Air Force disclosed it had deployed several Boeing Compact Laser Weapon System units across Europe as part of a layered air defense network.

The Army’s requirements for E-HEL call for three distinct engagement profiles: 30 one-second shots per minute against high-density target sets, six nine-second shots per minute against low-density sets, and three 17-second shots per minute against hardened targets. The system must also sustain full power for a full minute, with a recharge cycle capped at four minutes.

The draft RFP also required that an E-HEL system arrive with production capacity already in place. AV said it met that requirement with a $30 million manufacturing expansion in New Mexico announced in March.

The contract follows a June demonstration at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally observed AV’s LOCUST shoot down drones, according to Laser Wars, which first reported the event. That demonstration also featured nLight’s “P5 version” of the DE M-SHORAD system and Lockheed Martin’s 300 kilowatt Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser prototype, known as Valkyrie. Weeks later, the Pentagon awarded nLight and Lockheed Martin contracts for the 300-500 kilowatt Joint Laser Weapons System, part of the “Golden Dome for America” missile defense effort.

Earlier Army laser efforts struggled to reach production. The Mobile Test Unit, the first vehicle-mounted laser weapon, was judged “neither scalable nor robust enough for Army standards,” while the Government Accountability Office found the DE M-SHORAD system “not mature enough” for full production.

Separately, the US Air Force’s Recovery of Airbase Denied by Ordnance system, a 3 kilowatt Zeus III laser mounted on a Cougar 4×4 MRAP vehicle, is already in sustained production, with contractor Parsons under contract for 29 units.