The US Army stated in May 2024 that it had deployed a pair of 20-kilowatt palletized high-energy laser systems (P-HEL) overseas. These systems, which were deployed to protect American soldiers from hostile forces, were developed by the Virginia-based defense contractor BlueHalo and are based on the Locust Laser Weapon System. These equipments efficiently dealt with oncoming threats in the Middle East, integrating laser weapons into combat for the first time.
The US armed forces have been developing laser weapons for air defense since 1973 when a prototype laser beam successfully shot down a drone during experiments at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The successful deployment of P-HEL abroad is a significant milestone for the American military.
According to C4ISRNet, the US armed forces fund approximately 31 active, directed energy projects (including lasers and high-power microwaves) for over $1 billion annually.
After decades of research, the operational deployment of the P-HEL could not come soon enough. Today, US troops and military ships in the Middle East are increasingly suffering from military-grade, weaponized commercial drones following the start of the Israeli war in Gaza in October 2023. Top military leaders have urged the Pentagon to accelerate the deployment of directed energy weapons as a cost-effective countermeasure following the death of three US service members in a drone strike in Jordan in January 2024 and the injuries of dozens more in Iraq and Syria.
Some defense circles view high-energy lasers as the perfect air defense system against drones.
According to a 2023 US Government Accountability Office estimate on the Pentagon’s directed energy efforts, laser weapons can fire virtually unlimited shots at the speed of light with a suitable energy source, with each shot costing between $1 and $10. This is in contrast to the costly surface-to-air missiles that US troops have employed to shoot down Houthi and Iran-backed militia drones.
For BlueHalo, the P-HEL contractor, deploying the new laser weapon system is a major business breakthrough. BlueHalo was founded in 2019 by merging several small defense contractors under the private investment firm Arlington Capital Partners. It specializes not only in counter-drone solutions but also in space technologies, electronic warfare, and cyber warfare—all technologies considered critical for drone combat. In recent years, the US armed forces have shifted their focus from counterterrorism operations in the Middle East to so-called great power competition or near-peer conflict with Russia and China.
In a statement, BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker mentioned the company’s strategic shift in focus. Moneymaker explained that BlueHalo and its financial sponsor, Arlington Capital Partners, aimed to lead a transformation in global defense. He noted that the company is now adapting its approach after several decades of concentrating on counterterrorism missions, which relied heavily on specific technologies and capabilities. This change is driven by the rising potential for conflicts with peer nations, particularly China, requiring different defense solutions and strategies.
In fact, the proliferation of armed drones has become a defining characteristic of asymmetric conflicts with irregular forces, such as the Houthis in Yemen or Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, as well as with conventional armed forces, as shown by the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In a bid to augment the firepower of troops on an ever-evolving battlefield, the US military is swiftly pushing the development of its own strike drones. Given the rapid proliferation of drones in the armed forces worldwide, new technologies and strategies for combating drones must be developed.
BlueHalo has pledged to establish a “global protective ring” that will surround American and Allied forces worldwide.
Through its directed energy efforts and Pentagon contracts for space systems and various counter-drone solutions, as well as other products, BlueHalo has grown to 2,400 employees and $1 billion in revenue.
The US Department of Defense awarded the company contracts last year to integrate versions of its Locust system into two next-generation vehicles: the Army’s infantry squad “assault vehicle” and the Marine Corps’ joint light tactical vehicle, which will replace the service’s aging fleet of Humvees.
According to Moneymaker, the company is also discussing with the Navy the potential provision of laser weapons to aircraft carriers, submarines, and surface warships as a low-cost drone countermeasure.
Defense giants such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are also advancing toward creating functional laser weapons. The USS Preble’s 60-kilowatt high-energy laser on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer with an integrated optical dazzler and surveillance system (HELIOS) and the 50-kilowatt DE M-SHORAD mounted on a Stryker for short-range air defense have both been put through “real-world testing” by US troops in recent years to see how they work outside of the controlled environment of the lab.
However, BlueHalo has distinguished itself from traditional defense contractors by developing, testing, and fielding laser weapons in just five years. The rapid development and deployment of such a complex weapons system represent a significant turnaround, given the slow and arduous process that often characterizes Pentagon weapons procurement.
As explained by Moneymaker, BlueHalo chose to act independently rather than follow the typical multi-year “spiral development” paradigm that has defined next-generation military technology in recent years, in which the US Department of Defense regularly rolls out progressively advanced equipment. The company develops its own capital assets and invests millions of dollars in building a functioning prototype of laser weapons rather than relying on phased Pentagon contract funds to shape the development process.
Moneymaker highlighted the swift deployment of BlueHalo’s Locust system by the US Army. According to the CEO, the technology’s transfer from commercial assets to military purchases was quick. He said that the Army quickly purchased the device after a successful demonstration at Arizona’s Yuma Proving Ground. Moneymaker stressed the quickness of the process, claiming that the Locust system had only been on BlueHalo’s books for roughly two weeks before the sale. He went on to say that within a few months of the acquisition, the system was operational and deployed for long-term usage, demonstrating the efficiency of both the technology and procurement process.
“Locust” demonstrated its effectiveness in the hands of US troops thanks to two specific components that Moneymaker describes as “best in class” in the present directed energy ecology.
The first is the beam itself: Moneymaker asserts that the “Locust” beam control system is sophisticated enough to compensate for atmospheric effects (such as dust, sea spray, fog, and other interferences, according to a 2023 report from the US Congressional Research Service on directed energy weapons) that could degrade beam quality and reduce weapon effectiveness. While other laser weapon systems, such as DE M-SHORAD, continue to find applications outside of the laboratory, BlueHalo leads the pack in terms of real-world performance.
But, even more significant, the second component is Locust’s “Wisard” detection, tracking, and targeting software, which enables operators to lock on prospective threats at their most susceptible places with better accuracy (and thus effectiveness) than traditional targeting technologies. Wisard provides an AI-based targeting system that ensures each strike is critical.
Moneymaker said the result of these two developments is a 20-kilowatt laser weapon that produces effects equivalent to a 100-kilowatt system while requiring no additional power.
While the development of the long-range P-HEL system constitutes an engineering accomplishment, time will tell whether laser weapons will be widely adopted in US military formations or remain specialist systems designed for certain air defense duties. But, with the US military’s first combat use of laser weapons and fresh contracts on the horizon, BlueHalo appears to be on track to finally accomplish the Pentagon’s long-held dream of operational laser weapons.