US Army Awards Laser-Guided Energy Contract to Applied Energetics

The Research, Development and Engineering Command of the US Army has awarded Applied Energetics a contract for the continued development and advancement of the company's laser-guided energy (LGE) technology.

The LGE is a weapon technology, controlled via a high-voltage electric charge that can be guided by laser through the atmosphere to induce a range of effects against a variety of targets.

US Army Chief of the Advanced Energy Armaments Division Ben Lagasca said that the US Army has been involved with the development of LGE for the past five years.

"Now that the technology is approaching the level of maturity needed to begin weaponisation we will be more closely coordinated with Applied Energetics through this contract to fulfil Army mission needs," Lagasca said.

The contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee ordinance technology initiative agreement with a ceiling value of $13.4m depending on the performance of three years and the initial contract value for one year is $1.2m.

The development of the technology will be financed to support the advances in the systems and components that includes a LGE system followed by the next stage in advancement of these systems to meet the future requirements of the US Army.