AV introduces solution for 2026 E-HEL competition

Defence company AV displayed a model of a new configuration of its Locust directed energy weapon at the 2025 Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)

The next-generation system of Locust laser weapon system is being prepared for a future competition for the US Army's Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL), Trip Ferguson, president of space, cyber, and directed energy at AV, announced on 6 August.

The competition will kick off after a production decision, Lieutenant General Rob Rasch, director of the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), announced on 6 August. The new version of Locust will be based on cartridges that make the power scalable and more maintainable for soldiers, John Garrity, a vice-president at AV, a new company formed by a merger of AeroVironment and Blue Halo, told Janes in an interview on 6 August.

The army will start procuring lasers “at scale, because we believe, based on what we've learnt, where that's the sweet spot so far, that industry has shown us [and] that the technology has shown us where we can get the combination of reliability, affordability, and lethality for our soldiers”, Lt Gen Rasch said during a panel at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.

AV has already been on contract to deliver systems to the army under the Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL) and the Army Multi-Purpose HEL (AMP-HEL), which is a laser on an Infantry Squad Vehicle. The company has delivered seven systems to the army.

Feedback from testing with soldiers informed changes to Locust that will make their debut in the next-generation system, which has not yet been officially named, said Garrity.