"If boost-phase intercept from space is not affordable and scalable, we will not produce it, because we have other options to get after it," said Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein.
The Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program is the Army’s first program of record for a new family of high-energy lasers.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
While big primes appear to be positioning themselves for leadership roles, Leidos CEO Tom Bell told reporters the company doesn't need to be "Mr. Golden Dome."
The weapon is envisioned to protect Army bases and vehicles from small- to medium-sized drones.
More Navy leaders as of late have been publicly bemoaning the service's inability to scale functional laser weapon systems.
The agreement comes days after Israel announced billions in US funding for air defenses, including Iron Beam.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
“We see a lot more demand than we can possibly keep up with, that's one of the reasons … the air defense force is so strained, frequent deployments [and the] significant demand signal to meet hotspots all over the world,” Army Under Secretary Gabe Camarillo told Breaking Defense.
“This system’s multi-layered defensive capabilities set it apart in the industry and enable it to not only track and detect, but also defeat multiple threats,” said Matt Milas.
Anti-missile capabilities are just one aspect of more “robust” defenses needed for contested environments, which will also include sophisticated cyber attacks and electronic warfare.
“The system actually worked very well, but we had some, some additional work to do, from a suitability perspective,” Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch told Breaking Defense.
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
Gen. Gregory Guillot told the annual SMD Symposium that he also believes the US military needs to increase its effort to field directed-energy weapons to counter not only uncrewed aircraft systems but also cruise and hypersonic missiles.
DIU and the Navy are looking for mature technologies they can test within three months and have a handful of prototypes for within 12.
Mark Lewis, formerly the Pentagon's senior scientist now CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), gave MDA a thumbs up for taking a new look at the concept, noting that the technology has come a long way since 2014.
“They will tell you everything and they're not worried about your feelings,” said Doug Bush.