The Pentagon has selected four directed-energy weapons for a homeland counter-drone pilot that will field and test the systems at U.S. military bases. The systems are AeroVironment’s Palletized High-Energy Laser, Epirus’ Leonidas high-powered microwave, Kord’s Firefly high-energy laser and Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapon System, according to a Defense News report citing a Defense Department release.
The pilot is being run by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, an Army-led organization established to coordinate counter-drone work across the military and other federal agencies. The task force will collect real-time information on how the weapons perform, what they cost and what is required to operate and maintain them. Service members are expected to operate and maintain the systems during the pilot, which is planned to run for one year.
Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, the task force’s director, said the pilot will test the capabilities in an operational environment to determine how best to integrate and sustain them for homeland defense. The selected systems represent two types of directed-energy weapons. High-energy lasers engage individual drones by concentrating energy on a target until it is disabled or destroyed. High-powered microwaves can affect multiple drones in a swarm by overwhelming their electronics, although their broader effect area raises concerns about nearby systems.
The five pilot locations selected in May are Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Bliss, Texas; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. Fort Huachuca and Fort Bliss are tied to the southern border mission. Deployment plans were to be developed with installation commanders over 180 days, with operations expected later in the year. The Pentagon has not identified which weapon will go to each base, how many systems will be fielded or the total cost of the pilot.
The Defense Department said the pilot will examine the systems’ performance, cost and operational and maintenance requirements. Cost is a major selling point for lasers and microwaves because an engagement can cost less than using a missile or gun round, and the weapons do not leave unexploded ordnance. Ross has cautioned that the price of an individual shot does not capture the full expense of buying, operating and sustaining a weapon. Those broader costs are among the issues the pilot will measure.
AeroVironment’s selected system is a roll-on, roll-off version of its LOCUST laser, mounted on a self-contained pallet that can be moved by truck or ship. The company said a palletized LOCUST tracked and defeated target drones during an October 2025 live-fire event aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush. The Army also awarded AeroVironment a $464.8 million contract in September to produce its 30-kilowatt LOCUST X3 under the Enduring-High Energy Laser program. The Pentagon has not said whether the pilot systems will come from that procurement.
Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapon System, or CLWS, is a lower-power laser. Lower power generally means a laser must remain on a target longer to destroy it, while the system itself can be smaller and easier to move. Boeing said in 2024 that a 5-kilowatt CLWS defeated Group 3 drones during the Red Sands counter-drone exercise in Saudi Arabia. Kord markets Firefly as a palletized mobile laser scalable from 5 to 40 kilowatts. Company officials said a truck-mounted version typically needs several seconds on a small drone.
Leonidas is the pilot’s only microwave system. It forms the basis of the Army’s prototype high-power microwave effort under the Indirect Fire Protection Capability program. Epirus said in September 2025 that Leonidas disabled all 61 target drones across five scenarios at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, including a 49-drone swarm in a single burst.
The task force is coordinating the pilot with the military services, U.S. Northern Command and the Federal Aviation Administration. That coordination follows a February incident in which the FAA briefly closed airspace over El Paso, Texas, after a counter-drone laser was used near Fort Bliss without FAA coordination. After a March live-fire demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the FAA said a safety review found that the tested laser systems, when used with proper controls, did not pose an undue risk to passenger aircraft.
The Defense Department plans to continue evaluating other directed-energy systems and hold a December shoot-off at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The four selected weapons are the first systems the military will field and test at U.S. bases under the congressionally ordered program.