Lockheed Martin Achieves First Light From Laser Defense System

Lockheed Martin achieved first light from the Directed Energy Interceptor for Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense System (DEIMOS), verifying the beam quality of its 50-kW laser architecture developed as part of the U.S. Army’s modernization strategy.

Lockheed Martin’s 50-kW-class DEIMOS system is a ruggedized tactical laser weapon system that can be integrated into the Stryker combat vehicle to deliver robust directed energy capability to the U.S. Army’s challenging Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) mission.

Artist depiction of Lockheed Martin’s DEIMOS laser system integrated with a Stryker combat vehicle. Courtesy of Lockheed Martin.

First light measures the expected beam quality of the system while testing end-to-end performance of the company’s low-cost Spectral Beam Combination (SBC) architecture. The key benefit of the company’s SBC is that power can be scaled while retaining the excellent beam quality of the individual fiber lasers.

The directed energy (DE) component of the M-SHORAD mission is intended to deliver a maneuverable laser system capable of negating unmanned aerial systems, rotary wing aircraft, rockets, artillery, and mortars. Lockheed Martin will expand the DEIMOS test program in 2023, culminating with field integration tests in 2024.

The Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) is leading the DE M-SHORAD prototyping effort and is expected to transition the program to the Program Executive Office (PEO) Missiles & Space in 2024.