Directed-Energy Weapons
A class of counter-uas effectors using high-energy lasers (HEL) and high-powered microwaves (HPM) to defeat drones at line-of-sight. DEWs offer a low cost-per-shot and effectively unlimited “magazine depth” relative to kinetic interceptors like the bumblebee-counter-uas family or anduril Anvil, at the cost of weather/atmospheric attenuation, line-of-sight requirements, and civil-aviation safety considerations.
May 2026 JIATF-401 5-base pilot
Per src-directed-energy-5-bases-pilot-2026-05, jiatf-401 announced a Pentagon pilot on May 7 2026 to field combinations of HEL and HPM systems within 180 days at five U.S. bases:
- naval-base-kitsap (Navy, WA)
- fort-bliss (Army, TX)
- fort-huachuca (Army, AZ)
- grand-forks-afb (USAF, ND)
- whiteman-afb (USAF, MO)
Brig. Gen. matt-ross framed the pilot as “no silver bullet” — DEW is positioned as one element of a layered defense alongside existing radio-frequency, kinetic, and net-capture C-UAS. Col. scott-mclellan cited tests at white-sands-missile-range and operational use along the U.S.–Mexico border to argue DEW does not pose “undue risk to passenger aircraft.”
Caveat: civilian-aircraft incidents
The February 2026 incident in which a DoD laser-based C-UAS engaged a customs-and-border-protection drone near fort-hancock (covered in src-counter-act-secure-skies-bills-2026-04) is a counter-data-point on inter-agency safety coordination.