Lockheed Martin says combat lasers to be fully operational by 2030

Lockheed Martin has announced that its combat lasers, developed to counter air threats, will be fully operational by 2030. Stephanie Hill, head of the company's Helicopter Solutions and Systems unit, said the systems already exist and are functional, adding that the company expects the directed-energy air defense systems to be fielded by the end of the decade. The company's laser systems use spectral beam combining technology and have already proven effective against small and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles. The system can also target missiles on land and at sea, according to the company. Lockheed Martin is working on alternative air defense solutions alongside the laser weapons, including a more affordable variant of the PAC-3 interceptor missile. The company is also developing MORFIUS, a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle that emits high-power microwaves, and has introduced Sanctum, an artificial intelligence-supported system designed to protect military and civilian infrastructure from modern aerial threats.