nLight awarded $627M joint laser weapon system contract
nLIGHT announced it has been selected for a Joint Laser Weapon System Other Transaction Authority agreement supporting the U.S. Department of War's next-generation cruise missile defense architecture. The initial award has a value of $44M, with a total program ceiling of up to $627M, inclusive of follow-on development, integration, and potential production options. The JLWS program is led by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering SCADE CTA to transition directed energy capabilities from demonstration prototypes into field-ready, production-oriented platforms. "This award reflects the Department of War's increasing focus on transitioning directed energy from prototype to deployed capability at scale and aligns directly with our strategy to move beyond demonstration programs and into production-oriented platforms that can be fielded across land and maritime environments," said Scott Keeney, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of nLIGHT. "nLIGHT's vertically integrated laser architecture, state-of-the-art beam-combination, precision tracking expertise, and production-ready high-energy laser solutions position us to deliver reliable,.
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nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ: LASR ), a leading provider of high-energy lasers for mission‑critical directed energy applications, today announced it has been selected for a Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement supporting the U.S.
Department of War’s (DoW) next-generation cruise missile defense architecture.
The initial award has a value of $44 million, with a total program ceiling of up to $627 million, inclusive of follow-on development, integration, and potential production options.
The JLWS program is led by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)) SCADE CTA to transition directed energy capabilities from demonstration prototypes into field-ready, production-oriented platforms.
By developing containerized high-energy laser weapons, the Department aims to provide combatant commanders with scalable, cost-effective intercept solutions for asymmetric and high-tier adversary threats.
These prototype systems offer critical operational advantages over traditional kinetic systems, including speed-of-light engagement, exceptionally deep magazines and significantly lower cost-per-intercept, attributes essential for countering high-volume UAS swarms and advanced cruise missile threats.
To address urgent operational demands, initial JLWS prototypes will be rated at approximately 150 kW.
Subsequent iterations will be scaled to reach the 300–500 kW threshold required for robust cruise missile defense.