Here’s the Status of Every Known US Military Laser Weapon
This is the current state of play for US military laser weapons.
After decades of research and development, high laser weapons have finally become an operational reality. Between the US military’s deployment of laser weapons overseas to defend service members abroad against hostile drones, a series of major milestones among America’s allies in the pursuit of laser weapons, and China’s surprise unveiling of a mystery laser weapon aboard a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship, the world is slowly but surely entering the age of laser warfare.
But not all laser weapons are created equal. While the Defense Department currently spends around a billion dollars annually to maintain its lead in the world’s directed energy arms race, fast-tracking these systems from the lab to the battlefield is easier said than done. Even more challenging is keeping track of the many disparate programs focused on developing America’s laser arsenal.
To that end, here’s a rundown of the current status of the US military’s publicly-known laser weapons programs, ordered by current status. This list is based on Pentagon budget documents, federal contracting data collected by defense market intelligence group Obviant, Congressional Research Service reports, and my own reporting for Laser Wars and Military.com.
US Military Laser Weapons: By the Numbers
As of February 2025, the US military appears to possess at least 20 operational laser weapons that are either undergoing advanced testing or currently deployed in support of American service members abroad.
They include:
Two (2) Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL) systems
Four (4) Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE-MSHORAD) systems
Eight (8) Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) systems
One (1) High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system
One (1) High Energy Laser Expeditionary (HELEX) system
Three (3) High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) + One (1) “H4” system
(This tally excludes systems that are scheduled for deinstallation and disposal, such as the 150 kilowatt Laser Weapons System Demonstrator that the Navy unveiled in 2020 aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Portland.)
Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL)
Branch: US Army
Status: Operational ⚡
Recent Developments: The Army has officially deployed at least two 20 kw P-HEL systems overseas in the last several years, as I reported for Military.com in April 2024, with the first system commencing its "operational employment" overseas in November 2022.
Based on defense contractor BlueHalo's LOCUST Laser Weapon System and developed from an earlier 10 kw prototype, the P-HEL received a $20 million boost for additional R&D as part of the Army’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, according Obviant data. BlueHalo subsequently picked up a contract the following year to provide logistics support for the system.
While the Army won’t explicitly confirm whether the P-HEL has achieved the US military’s first ever laser kill against an adversary drone, Army acquisition chief Doug Bush stated in May 2024 that the system had proven “highly effective against certain threats.”
Outlook: Good
Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE-MSHORAD)
Branch: US Army
Status: In testing 🧪
Recent Developments: After taking delivery of four of defense giant Raytheon’s Stryker-mounted 50 kw DE-MSHORAD laser weapons in late 2023, the Army deployed the platoon of so-called “Guardian” systems to the US Central Command area of operations in the Middle East for “real-world testing” the following March.
The outcome of that testing is ambiguous. According to a February report from the Defense Department’s Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (the Pentagon’s top weapons tester), the Army conducted a three-day “controlled assessment” of the DE-MSHORAD in June 2024. However, the “limited data” from this trial “will not be adequate to support DOT&E’s early assessment of the system’s operational effectiveness, lethality, suitability, and survivability,” the report stated. Even prior to those tests, soldiers were “not impressed” by the system, as Breaking Defense reported in May 2024.
“That [50-kilowatt] power level is proving challenging to incorporate into a vehicle that has to move around constantly — the heat dissipation, the amount of electronics, kind of the wear and tear of a vehicle in a tactical environment versus a fixed site,” as Bush, the service’s acquisition chief, told lawmakers at the time.
Outlook: Hazy
Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL)
Branch: US Army
Status: In testing 🧪
Recent Developments: Dubbed “Valkyrie,” the Army awarded defense giant Lockheed Martin a contract for four IFPC-HEL systems in October 2023. Capable of operating at power levels up to 300 kw, the system would represent the most powerful laser weapon currently in the Pentagon’s arsenal.
While the Army is set to receive the four IFPC-HEL systems in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, the effort’s long-term future is murky. According to a January 2025 update from the Congressional Research Service, the Army’s fiscal year 2024 budget request had indicated the service plans on cutting around $4.8 billion from planned future spending on the program due to “changing priorities,” with a $327 million reduction included in its fiscal year 2025 budget request. These cuts raise the possibility that the IFPC-HEL might fall into the “valley of death” between R&D and procurement and never end up making it to the battlefield.
“While the Army says it remains committed to HELs, it is reportedly adopting a ‘buy-try-decide strategy,’” according to the CRS report.
Outlook: Hazy
Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN)
Branch: US Navy
Status: In testing 🧪
Recent Developments: Designed to “dazzle” the sensors of airborne drones and other unmanned platforms rather than destroy them outright, eight of defense contractor VTG Defense’s ODIN systems are currently installed on Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers across the Navy’s surface fleet, according to a July CRS report on the Pentagon’s directed energy efforts.
While the Navy has spent more than $200 million on the ODIN so far, the service’s fiscal year 2025 budget request did not include any additional funding for future R&D or procurement of the system, noting that spending had been realigned for repair parts and operations and maintenance support. Indeed, the budget documents state that ODIN will “[inform] the development of future prototyping capabilities and program of record efforts,” suggesting that while the system’s proliferation across the fleet may have come to end, its role in the the service’s broader directed energy efforts is far from over.
Outlook: Good
High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS)
Branch: US Navy
Status: In testing 🧪
Recent Developments: Officially known as the Surface Navy Laser Weapon System (SNLWS) Increment 1, Lockheed Martin’s 60 kw HELIOS system was installed on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Preble in fiscal year 2022, according to the July CRS report. While the Navy conducted initial sea trials in fiscal year 2023, the service carried out additional testing activities in fiscal year 2024, releasing a vivid photo of the system disabled an unidentified drone target in February 2025.
Federal contracting data analyzed by Obviant indicates that the Navy has spent just under a half billion dollars on HELIOS so far. And according to the CRS report, HELIOS is set to remain installed on the Preble for “fleet testing and sustainment” through the end of fiscal year 2029. It’s unclear if (or when) the service might add additional systems aboard other warships, but with surface commanders and lawmakers alike clamoring for directed energy options to counter hostile drones in the Red Sea, that may come sooner rather than later.
Outlook: Good
High Energy Laser Expeditionary (HELEX)
Branch: US Marine Corps
Status: In testing 🧪
Recent Developments: Little information is publicly available about the 10 kw vehicle-mounted HELEX system apart from the fact that it’s sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. In development since at least 2022 with plans for integration onto the Marine Corps’ new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the service published media of the system downing small drones from atop a Humvee during testing in Arizona as recently as April 2024. And while HELEX does not explicitly appear in any defense budget documents, the Navy revealed in February that it planned to incorporate a novel artificial intelligence-based tracking and targeting system into the weapon during an upcoming live-fire demonstration sometime in 2025.
Outlook: Hazy
High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS)
Branch: US Air Force
Status: In testing 🧪
Recent Developments: Not content to focus solely on airborne laser weapons, the 10 kw HELWS is a system developed by defense giant Raytheon to integrate into a Polaris MRZR lightweight tactical vehicle to provide mobile protection for airmen against incoming drone threats. According to the July CRS report, the Air Force took delivery of its first HELWS unit in October 2019 and deployed its overseas for field tests in April 2020 before awarding Raytheon a $15.5 million contract for an upgraded version the following year. As of 2024, the Air Force possessed at least three HELWS systems, although it’s worth noting that Raytheon also delivered a fourth system, the palletized “H4,” to the service for testing in 2022.
But it’s unclear what has happened to the HELWS since then. While Raytheon says the system has more than 25,000 hours under its belt, the Air Force has been mum on its progress for the last several years, suggesting that the service may have abandoned the project outright. Then again, the British Army did successfully integrated and fire the HELWS from a Wolfhound combat vehicle as recently as December 2024, so perhaps the system will live on to see combat some day.
Outlook: Hazy
Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL)
Branch: US Army
Status: In development 🔧
Recent Developments: In April 2024, the Army awarded BlueHalo a $45.7 million contract to develop the AMP-HEL to outfit the service’s new Infantry Squad Vehicle formations with a countermeasure for hostile drones. The 20 kw laser weapon, ostensibly based on the defense contractor’s proven LOCUST system, is funded under the Army’s DE-MSHORAD program, but the service’s fiscal year 2025 budget request doesn’t include any spending beyond the initial contract. Although the AMP-HEL is in its early stages, the success of BlueHalo’s LOCUST on the battlefield bodes well for the initiative.
Outlook: Hazy
High Energy Laser Counter ASCM Project (HELCAP)
Branch: US Navy
Status: In development 🔧
Recent Developments: While ODIN and HELIOS are designed to counter unmanned systems like airborne drones and robot boats, the Navy’s 300 kw HELCAP – adapted from Office of the Secretary of Defense’s High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI) – is intended specifically to counter anti-ship cruise missiles that may threaten surface warships during a future war, according to the service’ fiscal year 2025 budget request.
Although the Navy planned to conduct HECLAP experimentation in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, it’s not known if those tests ever took place. But according to budget documents, the service was set to conduct “primary demonstration activities” during fiscal year 2025, with experimentation continuing through at least fiscal year 2026.
Outlook: Hazy
Unnamed JLTV-Based Laser Weapon
Branch: US Marine Corps
Status: In development 🔧
Recent Developments: In November 2023, the Marine Corps awarded a contract for an unspecified amount to BlueHalo to adapt its LOCUST laser weapon for integration into the service's JLTV fleet as part of its Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) program. It’s unclear where exactly this initiative fits into the MADIS effort, which is currently focused on outfitting Low Altitude Air Defense Battalions with pairs of JLTVs armed with chain guns and surface-to-air missiles to take out hostile airborne threats, but Corps officials have stated in the past that they are absolutely interested in laser weapons for future increments of the system.
Outlook: Hazy
Compact Laser Weapons System (CLaWS)
Branch: US Marine Corps
Status: Cancelled ❌
Recent Developments: Billed as “the first ground-based laser approved by the Department of Defense for use by warfighters on the ground,” defense giant Boeing’s 5 kw CLaWS was designed to integrate with tactical vehicles like the Polaris MRZR. But as I reported for Laser Wars in January, the Marine Corps had returned its five CLaWS units to Boeing, with a service spokesman stating that the service had decided to “invest in more deliberate programs of record.”
Outlook: Not so good
Airborne High Energy Laser (AHEL)
Branch: US Air Force
Status: Cancelled ❌
Recent Developments: Air Force Special Operations Command has since 2015 hyped plans to install a high-energy laser weapon produced by Lockheed Martin aboard an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. But the service’s fiscal year 2025 budget request revealed in March 2024 that “technical challenges” had caused the system to miss its "available integration and flight test window,” a death knell for a crucial testing that had already been delayed since fiscal year 2021.
Outlook: Not so good
Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD)
Branch: US Air Force
Status: Cancelled ❌
Recent Developments: Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, SHiELD was a prototype high-energy laser pod designed by Lockheed Martin to integrate into small tactical aircraft from ageing fighter jets to next-generation aircraft to swat incoming missiles out of the sky. But after years in development, I reported for Military.com in May 2024 that the program had concluded without ever conducting an airborne test aboard an F-15 Eagle as planned.
Outlook: Not so good
nice summary