US Army Moves to Make Directed-Energy Lasers a Formal Part of Its Arsenal
The Pentagon is poised to sign a multi-hundred-million-dollar contract with AeroVironment to field Enduring High Energy Lasers as the Army’s first program-of-record directed-energy system, deploying compact laser units to bases worldwide to counter drone threats; lasers promise unlimited ammo as long as power holds, but face challenges in refire rate, weather, and scaling to large drone swarms, with prior demonstrations across the Navy and Air Force underscoring both potential and growing pains.