The Department of War awarded two Other Transaction Authority agreements totaling $86 million to nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight to develop high-energy laser weapons capable of defeating drone swarms and cruise missiles, with a total program ceiling of $847 million.
The agreements, announced July 9, are being executed by the department’s Scaled Directed Energy Critical Technology Area under the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. The Joint Laser Weapon System program is aimed at transitioning directed energy capabilities from demonstration prototypes into production-ready, operationally deployable platforms — a step the Pentagon has historically struggled to achieve despite years of research into laser weapons.
“We must actively defend the homeland against emerging threats,” said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. “We are partnering with industry to rapidly deliver deep magazine directed energy capabilities to the Joint Force that can be seamlessly deployed across multiple domains.”
Initial JLWS prototypes will be built at approximately 150 kilowatts of output power. Subsequent versions are planned to scale to the 300-to-500-kilowatt range the department considers necessary for effective cruise missile defense. In parallel, a 500-kilowatt integrated system will be developed using a laser source built under the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative. All systems will use containerized form factors, enabling modular installation across both ground and naval platforms for rapid deployment across combatant commands.
nLIGHT, based in Camas, Wash., received an initial award of $44 million with a potential ceiling of $627 million. Scott Keeney, nLIGHT’s chairman and CEO, said the award reflects the department’s push to move directed energy out of the laboratory and into production. Lockheed Martin’s Aculight subsidiary, which has contributed to multiple Army and Navy directed energy programs, received the remaining initial award value. Lockheed Martin confirmed it will develop a tactical containerized 500-kilowatt laser weapon system under the program.
The awards build on a directed energy demonstration held at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on June 23, at which both companies participated and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he witnessed laser weapons stop drones and cruise missiles. The JLWS program also aligns with the administration’s broader “Golden Dome for America” homeland missile defense initiative.
Compared with traditional kinetic interceptors, directed energy weapons engage targets at the speed of light, carry what the department describes as exceptionally deep magazines, and cost significantly less per intercept — attributes the Pentagon says are essential for countering high-volume drone swarms and advanced cruise missile threats. The department used the Other Transaction Authority framework to bypass traditional procurement timelines in favor of faster prototyping.
