Pentagon taps Lockheed and nLIGHT to scale high-energy laser defenses
The Pentagon awarded initial contracts worth up to $847 million to Lockheed Martin Aculight and nLIGHT Defense to develop the Joint Laser Weapon System, starting with 150 kW prototypes and scaling to 300–500 kW for drone and cruise-missile defense on ground and sea platforms, as part of a broader effort to move containerized directed-energy weapons from prototype to deployed capability.