AeroVironment Wins $464.8M Army Laser Deal, First LOCUST Export Order

AeroVironment said on Sept. 2, 2026, that the U.S. Army's Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fires had awarded it a contract valued at $464.8 million for the Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, structured as an Other Transaction Agreement, according to the company's investor announcement distributed via Business Wire. Six days later, on Sept. 8, AeroVironment said it had received its first international purchase order for its LOCUST Laser Weapon System, valued at more than $50 million, in an announcement carried on the Financial Times markets feed.

From prototype deliveries to a production contract

According to Business Wire, AeroVironment delivered two Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)-mounted counter-UAS laser weapon systems to the Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) in December 2025, as part of the second increment of the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) prototyping effort. Optics.org reported that this JLTV-mounted system used a 20-kilowatt-class laser paired with a larger-aperture beam director, which the company said was intended to improve lethality performance. AeroVironment said RCCTO has since been integrated into the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires organization, the same office that issued the September 2026 E-HEL award.

AeroVironment described the E-HEL award as an Other Transaction Agreement covering delivery of LOCUST X3 systems over the next few years, and it characterized the award as the first production contract for directed energy systems awarded in the United States. That characterization comes from the company's own Sept. 2, 2026 announcement and has not been independently verified.

Different systems, different specifications

AeroVironment's public releases describe more than one laser configuration. The company said the LOCUST X3 system covered by the E-HEL contract is a 30-kilowatt, platform-agnostic system planned for integration on platforms including the JLTV, with palletized configurations as an option, and said it is evaluating integration on the Infantry Squad Vehicle. By contrast, the JLTV-mounted AMP-HEL prototype delivered in December 2025 used what the company described as a 20-kilowatt-class system. Optics.org reported that AeroVironment first delivered a LOCUST system to RCCTO in 2022 under the Palletized-High Energy Laser program, and that the company said those systems have logged more than three years of operational deployment outside the United States.

What is not yet known

AeroVironment has not disclosed the customer or delivery timeline for the international order announced Sept. 8. Companies evaluating vehicle-mounted directed energy systems should note that prototype-stage 20-kilowatt configurations and the newer 30-kilowatt production configuration described for E-HEL involve different power and cooling requirements, based on the company's own technical descriptions in these announcements.