Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has announced that its Mission Technologies division was selected to develop an open architecture High-Energy Laser (HEL) weapon system for the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO).
HII will develop and test a HEL prototype to acquire, track and destroy Groups 1-3 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) used in multi-domain operations. The system will be capable of fixed-site defense and/or integration onto Army vehicles.
“We are proud to provide a critical enabler for the Army, delivering an effective, interoperable, sustainable and scalable system that will meet force protection requirements and support U.S. strategic objectives,” said Grant Hagen, president of Mission Technologies’ Warfare Systems group. “We look forward to collaborating with the RCCTO on this important effort that will protect the warfighter with an affordable counter-UAS solution.”
In addition to a HEL prototype system, HII will provide the data needed to compete subsystems and key components. Aligned to the system’s Modular Open Systems Approach architecture, this data directly supports Army’s objectives for interoperability, affordability, scalability, supply chain resilience and rapid innovation. The weapon system will allow the Army to interchange subsystems and software as the weapon evolves to meet national security demands.
The RCCTO awarded this Other Transaction agreement with the ultimate goal of transitioning to the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space. As part of this process, HII’s prototype HEL will undergo field testing to evaluate its safety and operational suitability. Upon successful demonstration, the system is expected to transition into low-rate initial production.
HII’s system is being designed to take out drones weighing up to 1,320 pounds (about 600 kg), flying at speeds of up to 250 knots (463 kph), and operating at altitudes as high as 18,000 feet (5,500 m) above sea level – classified as “group 3” unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Beyond dropping considerably large drones, the Army’s solicitation also calls for a system that can operate in both fixed-site and vehicle-mounted configurations, integrate with existing Army networks, support modular design for field repair and parts swapping, and include built-in cybersecurity protections.
All that, and there’s a tight timeline too: the RCCTO wants sensor and laser lethality characterization testing in the first quarter of FY2025, a lab demo in Q2 FY25, an integrated system field test in Q3, and a Soldier Touch Point event in Q1 FY26 – which kicks off in October 2025. The program’s goal is to pick a prime contractor for production in the first quarter of FY26, with a potential transition to producing up to 20 laser weapon systems by the third quarter of FY26 under a separate Production OTA award.
Whether those early testing milestones are on track is unclear. HII only just announced the contract and declined to share information outside of what was given in the press release.
What About that Other Anti-Drone Laser System?
The Army has had laser weapons capable of neutralizing unmanned aircraft since 2022 in the form of BlueHalo’s LOCUST system developed through the Laser Technology Research Development and Optimization (LARDO) program.
The current LOCUST system delivers “hard kills” with a 20-kilowatt beam, meaning it can physically destroy drones mid-flight. The Army signed another contract with BlueHalo last year to develop advanced directed energy prototypes with increased automation, efficiency, ruggedization, and improvements in size, weight, and power.
Lockheed Martin also demonstrated its own vehicle-mounted 50 kW laser system way back in 2023, highlighting the Army’s growing list of laser zapper projects and raising questions about how – or if – they’re meant to complement each other.
With HII declining to explain how its weapon system differed, the only available clue comes from the solicitation, in which the RCCTO mentions it wants “to expedite the development and field testing of a producible and sustainable laser weapon system,” suggesting rapid prototyping and fielding is the objective.
Sources: HII; The Register