\n
<\/p>\n
This article is republished with permission from\u00a0<\/em>Laser Wars<\/a>, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The U.S. military has a message for America\u2019s directed energy industry: it\u2019s time to build.<\/p>\n In a\u00a0written posture statement<\/a>\u00a0submitted to the House Armed Services Committee ahead of a hearing on the U.S. Defense Department\u2019s fiscal year 2027 budget request on April 29, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that the Pentagon plans on buying \u201ctens to hundreds\u201d of directed energy weapons like high-energy laser systems in the coming years\u2014the beginning of what Hegseth dubbed a \u201cstrong and consistent demand signal\u201d to the U.S. defense industrial base that, after years of producing just \u201ca limited number of prototypes,\u201d the U.S. military is deadly serious about fielding such capabilities at scale.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the relevant section from Hegseth\u2019s posture statement:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Directed Energy (DE) weapons represent a transformative capability, yet the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is currently postured to produce only a limited number of prototypes. There are significant vulnerabilities and gaps in our DE defense manufacturing capabilities. To address this, the Department must create a strong and consistent demand signal for the production of greater quantities of these weapons, on the order of tens to hundreds of units.<\/p>\n This increased demand is essential to enable the DIB\u2019s manufacturing capacity to mature and scale to meet the tactical innovation of the warfighter. Overcoming the \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d acquisition mindset is paramount. The Department must reform its procurement processes, warfighting tactics, and policy limitations to \u201cdemystify\u201d Directed Energy weapons and facilitate their integration into the force structure. This includes developing new concepts of operation, training programs, and support infrastructure to ensure that these advanced weapons can be effectively fielded to our warfighters and employed on the battlefield.<\/p>\n The successful integration of Directed Energy weapons will require a concerted effort to overcome institutional inertia and embrace a new way of thinking about warfare. The Department\u2019s commitment to creating a demand signal is the first and most critical step in this process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n While senior military and defense officials have vocally endorsed\u00a0fielding directed energy weapons at scale in 36 months<\/a>\u00a0or installing \u201ca laser on every ship<\/a>,\u201d Hegseth\u2019s statement offers a more grounded (and familiar) diagnosis for observers of the U.S. military\u2019s decades-long laser weapon ambitions: the technology has advanced, but the institutional mechanisms to transition mature systems to the field have not. The defense industrial base simply cannot invest in the manufacturing and supply chain capacity required for production at scale if it can\u2019t predict how many systems it will actually be asked to build, especially if promising initiatives continually perish in the \u201cvalley of death<\/a>\u201d between research and development and procurement<\/p>\n\n
\n