nLIGHT Awarded $627 Million Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) Contract

Key Terms

other transaction authority regulatory

Other transaction authority is a legal power that lets certain U.S. government agencies sign flexible, custom agreements for research, prototypes and limited production outside standard federal contracting rules. For investors, it matters because contracts awarded under this authority can produce faster, less bureaucratic revenue and bring new suppliers into government work, but they are often less transparent and can be smaller, shorter-term or harder to predict than traditional government contracts—like a bespoke order versus a catalog purchase.

directed energy technical

Directed energy describes weapons or tools that send concentrated beams of energy—such as lasers, microwaves, or particle streams—toward a target to heat, disable, or disrupt it rather than using conventional projectiles. Like using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight on a single spot, these systems can deliver effects at speed and with precision. Investors watch directed energy because it drives defense and high-tech spending, influences regulatory and export rules, and carries long development timelines and maintenance costs that affect company value.

coherent beam combination technical

Coherent beam combination is a way to merge multiple laser beams into a single, stronger beam by aligning their peaks and troughs so they add up cleanly, like several people rowing in perfect sync to make a boat go faster. For investors, it matters because this technique can significantly boost laser power and efficiency without building bigger single lasers, potentially lowering costs, improving performance, and enabling new commercial or defense markets.

high-energy laser technical

A high-energy laser is a device that produces a tightly focused beam of light with enough power to cut, weld, disable equipment, or destroy targets by heating material very quickly — think of it as concentrated sunlight used like a precision heat tool. For investors, it matters because these systems drive markets in defense, industrial manufacturing, and materials processing, carry high development and production costs, involve regulatory and export controls, and can change competitive positions if they become commercially practical.

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CAMAS, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ: LASR), a leading provider of high-energy lasers for mission‑critical directed energy applications, today announced it has been selected for a Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement supporting the U.S. Department of War’s (DoW) next-generation cruise missile defense architecture.

The initial award has a value of $44 million, with a total program ceiling of up to $627 million, inclusive of follow-on development, integration, and potential production options.

The JLWS program is led by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)) SCADE CTA to transition directed energy capabilities from demonstration prototypes into field-ready, production-oriented platforms. By developing containerized high-energy laser weapons, the Department aims to provide combatant commanders with scalable, cost-effective intercept solutions for asymmetric and high-tier adversary threats. These prototype systems offer critical operational advantages over traditional kinetic systems, including speed-of-light engagement, exceptionally deep magazines and significantly lower cost-per-intercept, attributes essential for countering high-volume UAS swarms and advanced cruise missile threats. To address urgent operational demands, initial JLWS prototypes will be rated at approximately 150 kW. Subsequent iterations will be scaled to reach the 300–500 kW threshold required for robust cruise missile defense.

“This award reflects the Department of War’s increasing focus on transitioning directed energy from prototype to deployed capability at scale and aligns directly with our strategy to move beyond demonstration programs and into production-oriented platforms that can be fielded across land and maritime environments,” said Scott Keeney, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of nLIGHT. “nLIGHT’s vertically integrated laser architecture, state-of-the-art beam‑combination, precision tracking expertise, and production-ready high-energy laser solutions position us to deliver reliable, scalable performance in support of next-generation air and missile defense missions.”

Program Overview

Under JLWS, nLIGHT will develop, integrate and deliver multiple high-energy laser weapon systems and other directed energy capabilities. Building upon its successful delivery of its 300kW high-energy laser through OUSD’s High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI) program and its 50kW high-energy laser through the Army’s Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) program, nLIGHT will leverage its proprietary coherent beam combination and atmospheric correction technology, and vertically integrated manufacturing approach to deliver modular, containerized systems that can be integrated across a variety of platforms and rapidly deployed in theater.

JLWS will be executed under an OTA contract, which enables rapid prototyping and flexible collaboration with the Department of War, allowing for iterative development and accelerated transition to production compared to traditional acquisition pathways.

Positioned for Scaled Deployment

nLIGHT’s directed energy portfolio includes its HADES™ family of high-energy laser systems, designed for scalable deployment across counter‑UAS, counter‑RAM, and missile defense missions. These systems leverage nLIGHT’s high-brightness laser technology, atmospheric correction, and beam-combining architecture to deliver high performance in compact, field-deployable configurations.

With increasing U.S. defense prioritization of directed energy and planned demonstrations of operational systems as early as 2028, JLWS represents a critical step toward fielding production-ready laser weapon systems at scale.

About nLIGHT

nLIGHT, Inc. is a leading provider of high-power lasers for mission-critical directed energy, optical sensing, and advanced manufacturing applications. Headquartered in Camas, Washington, nLIGHT employs more than 800 people with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company’s vertically integrated approach enables performance leadership from laser chip through system-level solutions. For more information, please visit www.nlight.net.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709375006/en/

For more information contact:
John Marchetti
VP Corporate Development and Investor Relations
nLIGHT, Inc.
(360) 566-4460
john.marchetti@nlight.net

Source: nLIGHT, Inc.