High Energy Laser Advanced Technology Program

The High Energy Laser Advanced Development program, managed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, is focused on advancing directed energy technologies to enhance military capabilities. This initiative aims to develop and demonstrate high-energy laser systems for use across various mission areas within the Department of Defense. The primary objectives include increasing power output for operational effectiveness and improving common components for scalable beam control architectures. These efforts are designed to enhance lethality, supportability, and affordability while reducing logistical requirements compared to traditional munitions.

A key component of this program is the Directed Energy Advanced Technology Development initiative, which is tasked with maturing and demonstrating directed energy sources for fieldable systems. It focuses on improving beam control and propagation technologies, conducting lethality and vulnerability experiments, and developing a comprehensive lethality database for system-level modeling. The program leverages existing investments in directed energy by various Services and Agencies, ensuring a coordinated approach to technology development.

In fiscal year 2024, the program plans to advance developments under the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI), focusing on lasers in the 500 kilowatt to 1 megawatt class. Efforts will include critical design phases and system builds following procurement of long-lead items. Research into beam control architectures will continue, aiming to validate technologies such as wavefront compensation and high-power optical components in relevant environments. Lethality testing will also be conducted using existing systems to refine aimpoint selections and vulnerability predictions.

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2025, the program will continue its focus on prototype development for high-energy lasers under HELSI. Beam control technology validation will remain a priority, with ongoing assessments of effectiveness in various mission scenarios. The program will also maintain its emphasis on lethality testing to ensure system response accuracy against representative targets. Despite a decrease in funding due to internal realignments and overall DoD adjustments, these efforts are expected to progress towards achieving the program's long-term goals.