Directed Energy
nLIGHT’s high-power directed energy lasers enable next-generation layered land and sea defenses that complement traditional kinetic defenses by offering a deep magazine, low cost per engagement, and speed-of-light delivery to defeat wide range of targets, including drones, rockets, artillery, mortars, and missiles.
Deploying 50kW-Class Lasers
In 2025, nLIGHT is delivering a 50kW-class high-energy laser (HEL) for integration into Stryker combat vehicles as part of the U.S. Army’s Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) initiative. This laser weapons system enhances battlefield survivability, providing an efficient and cost-effective countermeasure against drones, rockets, artillery, and airborne threats.
Scaling to Megawatt-Class Lasers
Under the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI), nLIGHT is advancing its coherent beam combined (CBC) architecture to deliver a megawatt-class laser over the next two years. After successful development of a 300kW-class laser in 2023 that exceeded program objectives, nLIGHT won $171 million contract for the second phase of the DoD’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Research & Engineering (OUSD (R&E)) High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI). In addition to scaling to 1 MW this laser will develop advanced adaptive optics for atmospheric correction.
Pioneering the Technology Stack for Directed Energy Lasers
For more than two decades, nLIGHT has led the world in the development of lasers for directed energy. nLIGHT has advanced performance across the entire stack of technology from semiconductor lasers to high-power beam directors. nLIGHT’s vertically integrated design and manufacturing processes enable complete control over system performance, ensuring field-serviceable, ruggedized lasers capable of operation in the most demanding environments.