
Lockheed Martin delivered to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering OUSD (R&E) a new benchmark: a tactically-relevant electric 300 kW-class laser, which it said is the most powerful laser that Lockheed Martin has produced to date.
This 300 kW-class laser is ready to integrate with the DOD demonstration efforts including the U.S. Armyβs Indirect Fires Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) Demonstrator laser weapon system.
The OUSD (R&E) selected Lockheed Martin in 2019 to scale its spectral beam combined high energy laser architecture to the 300 kW-class level as part of the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI), and the team recently achieved that milestone ahead of schedule.
βLockheed Martin increased the power and efficiency and reduced the weight and volume of continuous-wave high energy lasers which reduces risk for future fielding efforts of high power laser weapon systems,β said Rick Cordaro, vice president, Lockheed Martin Advanced Product Solutions.
The HELSI laser will support demonstration efforts with the Armyβs IFPC-HEL, which is scheduled for laboratory and field testing this year.
Lockheed Martinβs 300 kW-class high-energy laser design and build was enabled by significant investments in directed energy technology and the contributions of the companyβs dedicated team in Washington state and Owego, New York. The team is applying more than 40 years of experience researching, designing, developing, and capturing electromagnetic energy and elevating its power to create innovative 21st century security solutions.