Laser company nLIGHT, Inc. announced it had been selected for a Joint Laser Weapon System Other Transaction Authority agreement recently to support the U.S. Department of War’s next-generation cruise missile defense architecture.
The contract, which has an initial award value of $44 million, but can go as high at $626 million, covers the follow-on development, integration and production options for high-energy lasers for mission critical directed energy applications, the company said.
“This award reflects the Department of War’s increasing focus on transitioning directed energy from prototype to deployed capability at scale and aligns directly with our strategy to move beyond demonstration programs and into production-oriented platforms that can be fielded across land and maritime environments,” Scott Keeney, chairman and CEO of nLIGHT, said. “nLIGHT’s vertically integrated laser architecture, state-of-the-art beam-combination, precision tracking expertise, and production-ready high-energy laser solutions position us to deliver reliable, scalable performance in support of next-generation air and missile defense missions.”
The JLWS program is led by the Office of Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering SCADE CTA to transition directed energy capabilities from demonstration prototypes into field-ready, production-oriented platforms. The company said the DoW hopes to provide commanders with scalable, cost-effective intercept solutions for asymmetric and high-tier adversary threats. The prototypes offer operational advantages of tradition systems, including speed-of-light engagement, exceptionally deep magazines and lower cost-per-intercept, qualities the DoW said are essential for countering high-volume UAS swarms and advanced cruise missile threats.
Initial prototypes will be rated at approximately 150 kw., with subsequent iterations scaled to reach 300 to 500 kw thresholds.
Officials said nLIGHT will develop, integrate and deliver multiple high-energy laser weapon systems and other directed energy capabilities. The company will also leverage its proprietary coherent beam combination and atmospheric correction technology and vertically integrated manufacturing approach to deliver modular, containerized systems that can be integrated across a variety of platforms and theaters.