Army reaching out to industry for small, rugged counter-UAV laser weapons to move with maneuver forces
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – U.S. Army high-energy laser weapons experts are reaching out to industry to find companies interested in developing prototype laser weapons able to maneuver with soldiers in the field to destroy or disable a wide variety of enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Officials of the Army Directed Energy Prototyping Office are asking industry for two-page papers by 21 Feb. 2024 in preparation for industry briefings tentatively scheduled for 3 April 2024 at Toftoy Hall on Redstone Arsenal.
Army officials are evaluating the potential of integrating a UAV-killing laser weapon into its maneuver forces. a demonstration will identify potential high-energy laser weapons with modular open-systems architecture (MOSA) designs to destroy or disable enemy unmanned aircraft as large as 1,320 pounds.
Related: High-energy laser weapons ready for the front lines
Following a high-energy laser vendor demonstration, Army leaders say they will issue a solicitation to develop a counter-UAV high-energy laser prototype.
The Army Directed Energy Prototyping Office at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is looking to increase the ability of laser weapons to counter enemy UAVs as large as 1,320 pounds, which also are called class-3 UAVs.
To do this, the Army wants to assess the operational maturity of industry laser weapons subsystems such as beam control systems, beam directors, power and thermal systems, and threat trackers that can integrate with hardware and software interfaces, and existing U.S. Army command and control and sensor architectures.
Related: High-energy laser weapons move quickly from prototype to deployment
Each company that plans to participate in the counter-UAV laser weapons demonstration must email the Army an unclassified two-page white paper on their respective system no later than 21 Feb. 2024 at PANRSA-24-P-0000 004638.
Register for the industry day briefings by emailing requests no later than 6 March 2024 to the Army's Tracy Elliott at [email protected], with a copy to Maj. Weston Goodrich at [email protected].
Email questions or concerns to Tracy Elliott at [email protected]. More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/a1a53e0549584175ab5743047412ee98/view.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
