nLIGHT announces $34.5 million contract for DE M-SHORAD laser weapon system

nLIGHT, Inc., a leading provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers, announced a $34.5 million contract award that will be executed over approximately 18 months to provide a High Energy Laser (HEL) in support of the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) prototyping effort. nLIGHT is serving as a subcontractor to KORD Technologies, LLC as prime contractor in support of this effort.

DE M-SHORAD is a component of the U.S. Army’s broader modernization strategy for air and missile defense and focuses on integrating a 50kW-class laser weapon system onto a Stryker combat vehicle to provide defensive capabilities against unmanned aircraft systems; rockets, artillery, and mortar; and rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. Compared to conventional heavy kinetic weapons, directed energy laser weapons can offer deeper magazines with lower cost-per-shot in a smaller footprint.

“High energy lasers are moving out of the lab and into the field,” says Scott Keeney, nLIGHT’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “For over a decade, nLIGHT has been focused on developing and manufacturing innovative, reliable, field-serviceable, and affordable high-power fiber lasers for both commercial and defense customers. We’re proud of our partnership with KORD and RCCTO, and we look forward to leveraging our dual-use business model to accelerate the development and delivery of innovative and affordable lasers to the warfighter.”

“Our integrated HEL and beam control solutions use adaptive optics to focus more power on target and maximize laser lethality," says Jeff Barchers, President of nLIGHT DEFENSE Systems. "Our vertically integrated approach to laser design and manufacturing enables us to control every aspect of system design. As a result, we can produce ruggedized lasers using components that are line-replaceable units and can be serviced by a soldier in the field, which we believe is critical to long-term adoption of directed energy laser weapons.”