Pentagon names four directed-energy systems for homeland counter-drone pilot

The US Department of War has named four directed-energy systems — three lasers and one high-power microwave — for a 365-day pilot programme against drones over American military installations. The selection was announced on 5 October 2026 by Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401), the Army-led counter-drone task force, and covers AeroVironment's Palletized High-Energy Laser, Boeing's Compact Laser Weapon System, Kord's Firefly laser and Epirus' Leonidas high-power microwave. The pilot was directed by the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act and will run at five bases in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, US Northern Command and the services.

The four systems

AeroVironment is bringing a palletised configuration of its LOCUST Laser Weapon System, the directed-energy line it acquired with BlueHalo in 2025. Sources differ on the power class: Army Recognition calls the Palletized High-Energy Laser a 20-kilowatt-class member of the LOCUST family, while DroneXL identifies it as the 30-kilowatt LOCUST X3. Defense News reports a $464.8 million US Army production contract awarded in September 2026 for LOCUST X3 under the Enduring High Energy Laser programme.

Boeing's Compact Laser Weapon System is the smallest of the three lasers — DroneXL puts it at 5 kilowatts — and ties into the Army's Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control network. Defense News reports it has defeated close to 500 drones in testing at 200 m to 2.5 km, and has handled Group 3 aircraft — the class up to roughly 600 kg (1,320 lb) — at the Red Sands exercise in Saudi Arabia.

Kord, a KBR subsidiary, is supplying Firefly, a palletised mobile laser that Defense News describes as scalable from 5 to 40 kilowatts; little else about it is public.

Epirus' Leonidas is the one entry that is not a laser: a solid-state, gallium-nitride array that emits a wide burst of radio-frequency energy instead of a narrow beam. Epirus says Leonidas disabled all 61 target drones across five scenarios at Camp Atterbury, Indiana in 2025, including a 49-aircraft swarm in a single pulse. The US Army has placed two earlier Leonidas orders, worth $66.1 million in 2022 and $43.5 million in 2025.

Lasers and microwaves answer different problems

The pilot is mixed because the two technologies fail in different ways. A high-energy laser holds a tight beam on one aircraft until the airframe or the optics give out: accurate, long-reaching, one target at a time, with lower-power units needing a longer dwell. A high-power microwave covers an area and disables every drone inside the beam at once, which is the answer to a swarm — but the same wide footprint raises questions about effects on friendly electronics nearby. Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, the JIATF-401 director, framed both as components rather than solutions, saying high-energy lasers and high-powered microwave systems "are tools that can be effectively used in a layered drone defense".

Per-shot economics are the other open argument. AeroVironment has put the figure for LOCUST at about $3 a shot; Ross is sceptical of that arithmetic, telling reporters that "if I procure that system and it costs me $6 million and I take one shot a year, you can't tell me that that shot only costs 8 cents".

Five bases, and why the FAA is in the room

JIATF-401 named its host installations in May 2026: Fort Huachuca, Arizona and Fort Bliss, Texas, both tied to the southern border mission; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The spread puts the hardware through desert, maritime and hard-winter conditions in one year. Deployment detail is being settled with installation commanders over about 180 days, and operations are expected to begin later in 2026.

FAA participation is not a courtesy. Pointing a multi-kilowatt beam upward near civil traffic is an airspace problem before it is a weapons problem, and the programme has a cautionary episode behind it: in February 2026 a border counter-drone laser engaged what turned out to be party balloons, miscommunication led the FAA to close El Paso's airspace, and the same system later brought down a Customs and Border Protection aircraft. JIATF-401 has since run a joint safety risk assessment with the FAA during a live-fire laser demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, which found no undue risk to passenger aircraft.

What happens next

The pilot will gather a year of data on performance, sustainment and operational requirements at the five sites. In December 2026 JIATF-401 will also host a directed-energy shoot-off at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah to assess further lasers and microwaves; Ross has said systems that perform strongly there can go straight to a purchase order.

The aircraft that prompted all of this are the ordinary ones: Group 1 and Group 2 drones, the small and numerous types that fill most of this directory. The same manufacturers sit on both sides of the problem — AeroVironment builds the Switchblade loitering munition and the Raven hand-launched reconnaissance drone as well as the laser now meant to stop aircraft that size.

Frequently asked questions

What is JIATF-401?

Joint Interagency Task Force 401 is the Army-led US task force responsible for defending against small uncrewed aircraft over the United States. It runs this pilot with the FAA, US Northern Command and the services.

What is the difference between a high-energy laser and a high-power microwave?

A high-energy laser concentrates light on one aircraft until its structure or sensors fail. A high-power microwave floods a volume of air with radio-frequency energy and disables the electronics of every drone inside the beam at once.

Where will they be deployed?

Fort Huachuca (Arizona), Fort Bliss (Texas), Naval Base Kitsap (Washington), Grand Forks Air Force Base (North Dakota) and Whiteman Air Force Base (Missouri).

Does this change anything for civil drone pilots?

The pilot introduces no new flight rules. It does put directed-energy hardware inside five military installations, which is why the FAA is a named coordinating partner and took part in the White Sands safety risk assessment.