US army ready to order eight prototype laser weapons from Kord Technologies

Kord will build as many as eight DE M-SHORAD prototypes for delivery in 2023 and 2024, with design changes to cut weight and increase maintainability.

U.S. Army laser weapons experts needed a company to design an enhanced prototype air-defense laser for the Stryker armored combat vehicle. They found their solution from Kord Technologies Inc. in Huntsville, Ala.

Officials of the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced plans Wednesday to issue a sole-source request for prototype proposal to Kord Technologies for the Directed Energy Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD).

The Army selected Kord Technologies and the Raytheon Technologies Corp. Missiles & Defense segment in McKinney, Texas, last September to supply three 50-kilowatt high-energy laser weapons for three Stryker A1 combat vehicles as part of the DE M-SHORAD project.

The two companies participated in a laser weapons combat shootoff to demonstrate the capabilities of their systems last July at Fort Sill, Okla.

Kord will develop as many as eight enhanced DE M-SHORAD prototypes based on lessons learned during the July shootoff. The DE M-SHORAD prototype will be a 50-kilowatt mobile laser weapon able to shoot down manned and unmanned fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, as well as missiles, from the Stryker vehicle.

The company will build as many as four DE M-SHORAD prototypes for delivery in 2023, and as many as four more system prototypes in 2024. Kord engineers will make design changes to DE M-SHORAD prototypes to reduce overall weight and increase maintainability.

Army experts say Kord is the only responsible source able to develop and deliver this prototype within the required schedule, and that competition of this effort is not practicable and will not meet mission fielding requirements.

Source: Military Aerospace & Electronics