US Army Advances Laser Weapon Procurement with $465M LOCUST Production Deal

The United States Army has officially transitioned directed-energy counter-UAS systems into mass acquisition, awarding AeroVironment a $464.8 million contract for the LOCUST X3 high-energy laser system. Announced in early September under the Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, the agreement tasks the contractor with delivering dozens of production-ready systems alongside sustained operational support over several years, as reported by Stars and Stripes. This milestone marks the service's first formal production-scale contract for a laser weapon system, shifting directed energy from an experimental field demonstrator into an operational line-item capability designed to tackle pervasive drone threats.

The procurement push directly addresses the unsustainable financial calculus of modern air defense. Contemporary tactical units frequently fire interceptor missiles worth millions of dollars to down mass-manufactured loitering munitions costing tens of thousands. With the LOCUST X3—a platform combining multiple spectral wavelengths into an infrared beam reaching up to 30 kilowatts—the cost per engagement drops virtually to the cost of generator fuel and system power. By integrating directed-energy weapons into a unified air defense perimeter, military commands preserve scarce kinetic interceptors like Patriot and THAAD batteries for hypersonic and high-altitude ballistic threats while lasing low-tier unmanned aircraft.

Unlike previous experimental configurations such as the Stryker-based DE M-SHORAD, which drew mixed feedback during operational deployments in desert environments, the LOCUST X3 offers modular, platform-agnostic installation. It can be integrated directly onto Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) or deployed as fixed-site perimeter security. However, high-energy lasers (HEL) remain line-of-sight, single-target effectors vulnerable to beam degradation from dust, fog, or smoke. Comprehensive battlefield protection therefore requires paired kinetic and non-kinetic effectors connected through robust command and control nodes executing real-time threat assessment.

While lasers rely on thermal ablation to burn through airframes, high-power microwave (HPM) systems offer distinct tactical advantages by using electromagnetic energy to fry internal electronics. The operational contrast between lasers and microwaves is sharp: lasers burn individual targets one by one, while wide-beam HPM systems can defeat coordinated swarms instantly. Silent Pulse Labs incorporates this multi-target capability into the Discombobulator HPM weapon, delivering scalable, airborne counter-drone HPM systems.

Crucially, airborne microwave systems provide both defensive and offensive utility. On the defense, a drone-borne HPM creates a dynamic perimeter to neutralize incoming loitering munition swarms before they breach base perimeters. Offensively, deploying drone-mounted electronic warfare enables Suppression and Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD/DEAD). Forward-operating unmanned platforms can sweep hostile radar arrays, communications relays, and sensor nodes with localized electromagnetic pulses, severing adversary integrated air defense systems from within without expending costly standoff cruise missiles.

The US Army's commitment of nearly half a billion dollars signals that military doctrine has formally embraced directed energy as an indispensable tier of tactical air defense. The future of tactical airspace denial will not belong to lasers or electronic warfare in isolation, but to integrated architectures that harmonize optical beam weapons, wide-area microwave disruption, and kinetic interceptors.

To discover how our airborne directed-energy payloads and counter-UAS platforms can defend your operational assets, contact Silent Pulse Labs to connect with our defense systems integration team.