The U.S. Army is closing in on a contract with AeroVironment for the Enduring High Energy Laser, known as E-HEL, a system that would become the service's first directed-energy weapon to move from experimental testing into a standing operational program. Army acquisition chief Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano disclosed the negotiations in July, calling the E-HEL the Army's inaugural program of record for a family of high-energy laser systems. A source with direct knowledge of the program said the contract award is near, though negotiations have not concluded.
Lozano said the system showed strong results during testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The E-HEL is designed to destroy enemy drones without firing kinetic interceptors—missiles and rounds that cost hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per shot. The pressure to find cheaper alternatives has grown as low-cost drones flood modern battlefields and force air defense crews to burn through expensive ammunition countering $500 threats with $1 million missiles.
The Army's move is not isolated. The Air Force confirmed in July that it is already operating a compact laser weapon system at multiple overseas locations to guard against drone attacks. The Navy has spent years integrating its High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-Dazzler and Surveillance, known as HELIOS, aboard destroyers. All three services now have active laser programs at various stages of deployment.
The convergence marks a turning point for a technology that has consumed Pentagon research dollars for decades with limited battlefield results. The shift from laboratory testing to operational fielding—if the E-HEL contract closes and the weapon deploys as planned—represents the clearest sign yet that directed-energy weapons are entering the regular force.
Cheap commercial drones, modified for military use, have demonstrated in conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East that they can saturate traditional defense systems. Each interceptor fired costs orders of magnitude more than the drone it destroys. A laser weapon, once fielded, fires at the cost of electricity rather than ordnance, offering nearly unlimited shots against low-end threats.
Israel has moved further down that road. Its Iron Beam laser air defense system—developed with substantial U.S. financial and technical support—is now being deployed operationally to counter rockets, mortars and drones. Iron Beam's fielding gives the Pentagon a close-ally test case as it pushes its own programs toward deployment.
China is also accelerating. Beijing has publicly displayed a growing portfolio of military laser systems and counter-drone weapons, framing directed energy as a central part of its expanding military capability.
Tom Karako, a missile defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, draws a sharp line between what laser weapons can do and what they cannot. Lasers are effective against lower-tier threats—drones, mortars, certain rockets—but Karako is clear that they will not replace traditional missile interceptors for high-end threats. The weapons complement existing defenses; they do not substitute for them.
The Army's choice of AeroVironment as its negotiating partner is notable. The company is best known as a manufacturer of small unmanned aerial systems, including the Switchblade loitering munition and the Puma reconnaissance drone. Winning the E-HEL contract would mark a significant expansion of AeroVironment's role in Army ground-based air defense—from making the drone threat to helping counter it.
The Trump administration has pushed the Defense Department to accelerate both the development and acquisition of drone systems while simultaneously building defenses against adversarial drones. The E-HEL sits directly at that intersection.
What remains unresolved is timeline and scale. The contract has not been finalized, and the path from program of record to fielded capability involves production contracts, operational testing and training. The Army has not publicly stated a target fielding date for the E-HEL.
