Here Comes the Army's 'Enduring' Laser Weapon
The service is pushing ahead with its newest high-energy laser weapon system.
The US Army’s plan for its first directed energy program of record is beginning to take shape.
The Army plans on producing up to 20 next-generation Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) systems to protect American and allied forces against the expanding threat of low-cost weaponized drones, according to request for information (RFI) published on October 30 from the service’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), which oversees the service’s directed energy portfolio.
The RFI — an early-stage notice used to gather information ahead of a formal solicitation — states that the Army plans on producing E-HEL systems “using a modular open system approach (MOSA) leveraging range proven laser and beam control technologies,” with the notional laser weapon capable of either operating in a palletized configuration or integrating directly onto a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) vehicle.
These details track with the vision for the system laid out in a May presentation from RCCTO on E-HEL and where it fits into the service’s directed energy roadmap.
First unveiled by the RCCTO in a July 2024 special notice, E-HEL is a rapid prototyping effort aimed at developing “an air defense weapon system capable of fixed site defense and/or integration onto an existing Army platform,” according to the Army’s fiscal year 2026 budget request. The service has explicitly stated that E-HEL is “expected” to become the service’s first directed energy program of record.
The Army’s budget request includes $49.75 million for the procurement of “up to two” E-HEL systems and $11.13 million in related research and development funding. This request came on the heels of a brutal Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessment of the service’s 50 kilowatt Stryker-mounted Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) effort, which determined that the system “was not mature enough to support the transition” to a program of record.
At the moment, there are two known contenders to supply the Army with laser weapons for the E-HEL system. The service’s budget documents revealed that Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the largest military shipbuilder in the United States, received a $14.82 million contract for E-HEL design, development, integration, and systems engineering in February. In September, HII announced a capital investment in a new integration, production and test facility to support the system’s development, and is expected to receive a follow-on $8.54 million contract in November.
The other is AV (formerly AeroVironment and Blue Halo), who in August unveiled an upgraded version of its 20 kw LOCUST Laser Weapon System designed specifically for the eventual E-HEL competition. Not only has the LOCUST already seen action alongside US troops overseas, but AV has also demonstrated success integrating the system onto the service’s JLTV and Infantry Squad Vehicle under the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) initiative, which would fit with the RFI’s stated vision of “leveraging range proven laser and beam control technologies” to bring E-HEL to life.
With its focus on modularity and scalability, the E-HEL effort represents a clear pivot away from bespoke, one-off directed energy prototypes towards, well, an “enduring” solution that can potentially proliferate rapidly across formations. Palletization and MOSA architecture open the door for flexible deployments at fixed installations, forward operating bases, or expeditionary settings — the kinds of places where drone threats are most acute and traditional interceptors are too expensive or limited in quantity to sustain.
The Army plans on holding E-HEL demonstrations this coming December and January, according to the RFI. The service had previously indicated that it plans to take delivery of its first E-HEL prototype by the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, with production units slated to begin delivery to the service by the end of fiscal year 2027 — an aggressive acquisition timeline that underscores both the urgency of the drone threat facing US troops overseas and the service’s growing confidence in laser weapon maturity.
Still, the transition from prototype to program of record is fraught terrain, and E-HEL will test not just the maturity of laser weapon technology but the Army’s ability to rapidly procure and field it at scale. Indeed, then-Army Space and Missile Defense Command boss Lt. Gen. Dan Karbler stated In August 2020 that the service expected to have its first battalion of Stryker-mounted DE M-SHORAD laser weapons “fielded in 2021 with four battalions by 2023.” But five years later, the service is ditching the Stryker entirely.
Laser weapons are no longer science fiction. The real challenge is making them standard issue.
The Valley of death is the Plan for anything that would help.