Lockheed Martin Awarded 500 kW Joint Laser Weapon System Contract

The US Department of War has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract of undisclosed value to develop a 500kW Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) program. This will advance the United States’ next-generation cruise missile and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) defence architecture, says the company in a media release.

Under the JLWS program, Lockheed Martin will develop a tactical, containerized 500 kW Directed Energy (DE) laser weapon system, providing combatant commanders with scalable, cost-effective intercept solutions.

This award builds on more than 15 years of Lockheed Martin investment and expertise in designing and fielding tactically relevant laser weapons, the company says. Compared with conventional kinetic systems, Lockheed Martin says its DE lasers provide speed‑of‑light engagement, virtually unlimited magazines, and a dramatically lower cost per intercept – capabilities essential for defeating high‑volume UAS swarms and advanced cruise missile threats.

The award acknowledges the company’s collaboration with SCALED Directed Energy, one of the Department of War’s six Critical Technology Areas under the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)).

“We are honoured to field this operational‑tactical prototype — the highest‑power laser ever packaged in a transportable container,” says Paul Lemmo, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Sensors, Effectors, and Mission Systems. “By applying our expertise in lowering size, weight, and power along with rugged‑system design, we can rapidly build containerized laser weapons in the near term.”

“We must actively defend the homeland against emerging threats,” says 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.”