nLIGHT Awarded $86 Million Contract to Develop High Energy Laser

nLIGHT, Inc. (Nasdaq: LASR), a leading provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers, today announced that it has been awarded an $86 million contract to produce a High Energy Laser (HEL) prototype for the next phase of development in support of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI).

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering selected nLIGHT in 2019 to utilize its coherent beam combined (CBC) architecture to produce a 300 kW class high energy laser as part of the first phase of the HELSI program. In 2022, nLIGHT demonstrated power exceeding HELSI program objectives and the scalability of our CBC architecture.

Today’s award is part of a multi-year development program that is expected to commence in the third calendar quarter of 2023.

“When we founded nLIGHT over 20 years ago, our vision was to produce the highest power and brightness lasers by leveraging vertical integration from semiconductor laser chips through beam control,” commented Scott Keeney, CEO of nLIGHT. “This contract award reflects nLIGHT’s deep commitment to the defense market and our ability to combine our leading technology with the benefits of high-volume commercial laser operations to deliver innovative and cost-effective directed energy lasers.”

“We are thrilled to have the continued support of the HELSI program to develop and further demonstrate our CBC technology and innovative beam combination and control,” commented Jeff Barchers, President of nLIGHT DEFENSE Systems. “Our technology is capable of scaling to higher powers and providing higher performance, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the DoD.”