The Pentagon’s FY2027 Budget Bet on Directed Energy Weapons

The US Defense Department's fiscal year 2027 budget request could yield more than $2 billion in directed energy RDT&E funding.

A laser weapon beam director assigned to Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren and Crane Division tracks unmanned aerial vehicles during an exercise as part of US Marine Corps Weapons and Tactics Instructor course at Tactical Airfield in Arizona on April 2, 2024. (US Marine Corps photo)

After months of bold promises about its directed energy weapon ambit…