Navy orders laser weapon for USMC testing

Raytheon is to develop a vehicle-based laser system for U.S. Marine Corps testing under an Office of Naval Research program.

The contract for the Ground Based Air Defense device -- capable of defeating low-flying aircraft such as drones -- is worth $11 million.

Raytheon said it will use its planar waveguide, or PWG, technology for the short-range weapon, which will have a 25kW minimum power output. Using a single PWG, the size and shape of a 12 inch ruler, Raytheon high-energy lasers generate sufficient power to effectively engage small aircraft.

"Raytheon's laser solution generates high power output in a small, light-weight rugged package ideally suited for mobile platforms," said Bill Hart, vice president of Raytheon Space Systems.

"Our PWG laser architecture is scalable: We can achieve increasingly higher power levels with the same compact design we're using for GBAD."

Raytheon said the laser weapon would be mounted on a Humvee for testing. No timeframe for the contract was provided.