nLIGHT Lands $86M Defense Contract to Develop High-Energy Laser

nLIGHT, a provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers, has been awarded an $86 million contract to produce a high-energy laser (HEL) prototype for the next phase of development in support of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) High-Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI).

The Office of the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering selected nLIGHT in 2019 to utilize its coherent beam combined (CBC) architecture to produce a 300-kW-class high-energy laser as part of the first phase of the HELSI program. In 2022, nLIGHT demonstrated power exceeding HELSI program objectives and the scalability of its CBC architecture.

The current award is part of a multiyear development program expected to commence in the third calendar quarter of 2023.

nLIGHT announced the contract just before issuing financial results for the first quarter of 2023. Revenues for 2023’s first quarter were $54.1 million, down 16.1% year-over-year. The company expects revenues of $49 million to $55 million in 2023’s second quarter.

In March, nLIGHT (via nLIGHT Nutronics) was among seven firms announced as recipients of a combined $75 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for the fabrication and delivery of prototypes and equipment in support of solid-state high-energy laser weapon systems from the DOD.