Laser weapon from GA-EMS and Boeing garners U.S. Army contract for prototype
NewsOctober 26, 2021
ATLANTA & CHICAGO. A team consisting of personnel from General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Boeing has won a U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) contract to develop a 300 kW-class solid-state distributed gain high-energy laser weapon system (HELWS).
Under the terms of the contract with the Army, the GA-EMS/Boeing team will deliver and demonstrate a 300 kW-class distributed gain laser with an integrated Boeing beam director.
Company officials say that the HELWS will leverage the GA-EMS scalable distributed gain laser technology with Boeing’s beam director and precision acquisition, tracking, and pointing software to provide a complete demonstrator with excellent laser and beam control.
Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, calls the soon-to-be-demonstrated weapon system a "leap-ahead capability for air and missile defense."
