“This milestone marks a major step forward in the Army’s pursuit of fieldable directed energy capabilities,” said Mary Clum, Senior Vice President for AV’s Space & Directed Energy Group. “Through the AMP-HEL program, AV is delivering our extensively validated LOCUST laser system–a technically sophisticated solution that has demonstrated reliability and operational readiness for the C-UAS fight. We are honored to support the U.S. Army RCCTO and, together, accelerate warfighter access to these critical capabilities.”
Following integration at AeroVironment’s Directed Energy manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, the prototypes underwent government acceptance testing at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Army units then conducted new equipment training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with soldier feedback shaping enhancements to maintain operational relevance.
The programme is part of the Army’s modernisation push to field directed energy solutions against drones and airborne threats. The use of a lightweight Infantry Squad Vehicle platform highlights a focus on scalable and expeditionary protection systems.
“The need for these systems from real world events is clear: the time is now for directed energy to get into the hands of warfighters everywhere and we are confident that LOCUST meets that need,” said John Garrity, Vice President of Directed Energy Systems for AV. “AV is committed to supporting the Army’s modernization and modularity priorities. We stand ready to meet the mission need through full-scale manufacturing of our LOCUST laser systems, including AMP-HEL and other mobile and fixed-site platforms, to increase lethality and continue to build on our extensively validated reliability and precision tracking and targeting technology to address the evolving threats.”
Next month, AeroVironment will deliver the second increment of AMP-HEL, consisting of two Joint Light Tactical Vehicles equipped with LOCUST laser systems, radar, and command-and-control capabilities. This delivery continues the phased effort to expand Army access to directed energy technologies.
