The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a contract to develop the lightweight demonstrator laser weapon system for the agency’s High Energy Liquid Laser Defense System program. “GA-ASI pioneered a new concept for electrically pumped, high-energy lasers, and under DARPA sponsorship, this technology has developed into a promising new weapon,” said Michael Perry, who oversees GA-ASI’s reconnaissance systems, in the company’s release. Under the contract, which covers phase four of HELLADS development, GA-ASI will produce the 150-kilowatt demonstrator—weighing less than 2,000 pounds—and have it available for ground testing “against a variety of military targets” at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in 2013. HELLADS is envisioned as a laser defensive system light enough for use on tactical aircraft, including remotely piloted aircraft. There are plans for its eventual integration with a B-1B bomber for aerial testing.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.