Directed Energy Pilot Program to Field 3 Lasers and 1 Microwave at US Bases

The Department of War on October 5, 2026, named the first four directed-energy weapons selected for the counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) pilot program run by Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF 401): the AeroVironment Palletized High-Energy Laser, the Kord Firefly high-energy laser, the Boeing Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS) and the Epirus Leonidas high-powered microwave (HPM) system. All four will be evaluated in an operational environment at US military installations rather than on a test range.

Directed by the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the pilot is designed to generate real-time data on the requirements, costs and best practices of high-energy laser (HEL) and HPM weapons for homeland defense.

JIATF 401, the Army-led task force established in August 2025 to centralize the department’s counter-small UAS effort, named the five host installations on May 6, 2026: Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Bliss, Texas; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The October announcement did not disclose which system goes to which site, unit quantities or contract values.

Three Lasers, Three Power Classes in the Directed Energy Pilot

AeroVironment’s palletized laser belongs to the LOCUST family, which entered Army service through the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL) program; the first 20-kilowatt P-HEL began operational employment overseas in November 2022. The release does not specify the configuration selected, but publicly available specifications place the LOCUST line between the 20-kilowatt-class X2 and the 30-kilowatt X3.

On September 2, 2026, the Army awarded AeroVironment a $464.8 million Other Transaction Agreement for the Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, covering dozens of LOCUST X3 systems against Group 1 to 3 UAS. Pilot data on this system will feed a family that already has a production line behind it.

Kord’s Firefly is a self-contained, palletized laser built on a modular open architecture with power options from 5 to 40 kilowatts, according to the company. An independent camera system supports tracking at extended range, and the laser head detaches for maintenance. That scalability lets evaluators test whether one architecture can be sized to different installation threat profiles.

Boeing’s CLWS is the oldest design in the group, first demonstrated in 2015 and offered in 2-, 5- and 10-kilowatt configurations. In 2024, a 5-kilowatt CLWS cued through the Army’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) network defeated Group 3 drones at the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center in Saudi Arabia. Boeing cites an engagement envelope of 200 meters to 2.5 kilometers, sized for the quadcopter threat at an installation perimeter.

Epirus Leonidas Adds One-to-Many Microwave Defeat Against Drone Swarms

Leonidas is the only non-laser system selected, and it addresses the core limitation of HEL weapons: a laser engages one target at a time and must dwell on each aimpoint. Leonidas uses gallium nitride (GaN) solid-state amplifiers and software control of its antenna array to steer an electromagnetic beam that disrupts or damages drone electronics across a sector.

At an August 26, 2025 demonstration at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, Epirus reported defeating 61 of 61 drones, including a 49-drone swarm with a single pulse. The Army already uses the technology in its Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High-Power Microwave (IFPC-HPM) effort, under a $43.55 million RCCTO contract awarded in July 2025 that includes two Generation II systems.

For installation defense, the trade-off is collateral effect. A wide beam suits a saturation attack but raises questions over friendly electronics and nearby aircraft that a narrow laser does not. The release does not state whether an HPM-specific airspace assessment has been completed.

“There is no silver bullet, or one size fits all solution to countering the threat of drones,” said Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, JIATF 401 director, describing directed energy as one option within a layered defense.

Airspace Deconfliction and the 365-Day Installation Assessment

Domestic employment imposes constraints overseas deployments do not. In February 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) twice restricted airspace in the El Paso, Texas, area after counter-drone laser use. The first closure, which briefly shut El Paso International Airport, followed the reported use of an Army-loaned laser by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) near Fort Bliss without prior coordination with the agency; the second, around Fort Hancock, came after the military reportedly downed a CBP drone with a laser.

JIATF 401 then partnered with the FAA on a safety risk assessment during a live-fire HEL demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The FAA determined the system posed minimal risk to the National Airspace System and established a framework for continued coordination. The pilot will run in close coordination with the FAA, US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the services.

The evaluation is built around endurance. In a September 9, 2026 statement, Ross said the systems would remain on installations for 365 days, operated and maintained by military personnel. The year-long format targets what short demonstrations cannot answer: availability, maintenance burden, power demand, cooling, integration with daily base operations and engagement without routine airspace closures. The five sites span desert, maritime and northern-plains climates, from Arizona heat to North Dakota winters.

Analysis: The selection is less a procurement decision than a sustainment test. Across their published configurations, the three lasers span 2 to 40 kilowatts, and Leonidas adds an area-effect option, giving JIATF 401 a cross-section of the directed-energy design space without a new development program. The decisive data will be mean time between failures, power drawn from installation grids and how often FAA coordination delays an engagement. If base personnel can keep these systems available for a year without vendor teams on site, directed energy becomes a credible standard layer of installation protection against cheap drones.

The next milestone is a directed-energy shoot-off at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, in December, where the department will assess additional HEL and HPM systems for future operational use, making the initial four a first tranche rather than a closed list. Site assignments, quantities, funding lines and the airspace rules governing HPM remain undisclosed.