Science2 hOctober 30, 2026, 16:00

Pentagon can shoot down drones with lasers, but upkeep is the hard part

The US military has proven lasers can down drones, but sustaining them in the field remains a major hurdle: optics need clean rooms and prototypes get shipped back to manufacturers. GAO and DOT&E flag maintainability as a core obstacle.

Fast Company

Open source

Pentagon can shoot down drones with lasers, but upkeep is the hard part

The 20-kW AMP-HEL laser operates on the US-Mexico border
Debris on optics can require repairs in a clean room
Of 3–4 lasers in Africa, roughly one was operational
Army replaced DE M-SHORAD with E-HEL under a $464.8M contract

#Pentagon#GAO

Pentagon picks four laser and microwave systems for homeland drone defense

Hardware

Heven AeroTech pitches hydrogen drones as platforms for airborne lasers

Software

Microsoft Publisher is gone from Microsoft 365 — verification, not conversion, is the hard part

Hardware

Pentagon can shoot down drones with lasers, but upkeep is the hard part

Pentagon picks four laser and microwave systems for homeland drone defense

Heven AeroTech pitches hydrogen drones as platforms for airborne lasers

Microsoft Publisher is gone from Microsoft 365 — verification, not conversion, is the hard part

BizLink's CPO breakthrough hits the hard part: scaling