U.S. Army’s Enduring High Energy Laser moves forward with new HII facility investment.

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced a new production and testing facility to support Phase 2 of the U.S. Army’s Enduring High Energy Laser program. The move strengthens America’s directed energy weapons development and aligns with the Pentagon’s push for next-generation battlefield technology.

According to information published by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on September 30, 2025, the U.S. defense contractor has launched a major capital investment to establish a new integration, production, and testing facility in support of Phase 2 of the U.S. Army’s Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) weapon system program. This facility, designed to handle assembly, subsystem integration, and factory acceptance testing of advanced laser weapons, significantly strengthens HII’s role in the growing directed energy weapons sector and supports the U.S. Department of War’s strategic objective of fielding scalable, next-generation battlefield technologies.
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U.S. Army Directed Energy laser weapon DE M-SHORAD in action at Fort Sill, demonstrating the future of air defense during a live-fire exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Jim Kendall) 

Built within HII’s Mission Technologies division, the facility will feature advanced power, thermal, and beam performance testing environments tailored to simulate operational conditions and validate HEL system readiness before deployment. It will support the U.S. Army’s Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA), enabling rapid upgrades, plug-and-play component replacement, and greater supply chain resilience. These are critical capabilities as threats evolve and system demands increase in contested theaters.

The Enduring High Energy Laser system is a high-powered, vehicle-mounted directed energy weapon designed to engage and destroy a broad spectrum of aerial threats including drones, loitering munitions, rockets, artillery, and mortars. Managed by the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), the E-HEL program is a central pillar of the Department of War’s modernization strategy to integrate energy weapons across tactical formations. It delivers cost-effective, near-instantaneous engagement at the speed of light, with virtually unlimited ammunition constrained only by onboard power generation.

This investment comes at a critical moment for the U.S. Army, as recent conflicts, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine, have exposed the limitations of traditional kinetic air defense systems. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have relied heavily on low-cost drones and loitering munitions to conduct surveillance, deliver explosives, and saturate enemy air defenses. These systems have proven capable of overwhelming conventional missile-based interceptors, which are expensive to replenish and often outmatched in terms of engagement rate and volume. The battlefield has made one reality clear: any force unable to counter drones and precision-guided threats at scale will face serious operational vulnerabilities.

Laser weapons, such as the E-HEL, offer a solution tailored for the modern battlefield. Their low per-shot cost, deep magazine capacity, and high precision make them ideal for defending mobile units, forward operating bases, and critical infrastructure. In addition to neutralizing small UAVs and indirect fire threats, HEL systems can reduce dependence on traditional munitions supply chains, which are increasingly vulnerable in prolonged or dispersed conflicts. As peer and near-peer competitors continue to invest in drone swarm capabilities and precision-strike platforms, the U.S. Army’s ability to field and sustain directed energy weapons will be essential to maintaining battlefield overmatch.

HII’s new facility is expected to begin supporting low-rate initial production (LRIP) activities by mid-2026. This timeline supports the Department of War’s larger plan to accelerate fielding of operational HEL units in high-priority theaters, including the Indo-Pacific and CENTCOM regions, where rapid threat engagement and logistics agility are vital. The production center will serve not only as a manufacturing hub but also as a testing and integration site critical to validating system effectiveness under mission-representative conditions.

The emergence of this facility marks a broader industrial realignment within the defense sector. While major primes like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and RTX continue to develop laser generation technologies, HII is positioning itself as a critical enabler of full-system integration and rapid deployment capability. The competition now centers on readiness, scalability, and delivery. These are key metrics for the Department of War as it shifts from laboratory demonstrations to combat-ready directed energy solutions.

For Army Recognition readers, the opening of HII’s HEL integration and test facility represents a decisive step in moving from theory to application. The urgency to field laser weapons is no longer conceptual. It is real, driven by battlefield necessity, and grounded in the lessons of modern warfare. As the strategic landscape shifts and aerial threats proliferate, the United States Army is no longer preparing for the next war with yesterday’s technology. It is building the next generation of warfighting tools, and HII’s latest investment will play a vital role in that evolution.