Navy researchers ask Coherent Corp. to develop pulsed fiber laser weapons for counter-uncrewed vehicles

Summary points:

• Coherent Corp. will develop pulsed fiber lasers and a 400-kilowatt directed-energy subsystem for advanced missile and UAV defense.
• SONGBOW integrates pulsed fiber lasers with high-bandwidth wavefront control to boost precision, efficiency, and performance in directed-energy weapons.
• Laser technologies are for missile defense, counter-UAV systems, precision tracking, imaging, electronic warfare, and optical communications.

ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. Navy directed-energy weapons experts needed laser weapons to counter incoming enemy missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). They found a solution from the Coherent Corp. Aerospace & Defense segment in Murietta, Calif.

Officials of the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va., announced a $30 million contract to Coherent on 10 June 2025 for the SONGBOW: Pulsed Fiber Lasers and Directed Energy Subsystems with High Bandwidth Wavefront Control project.

Coherent will develop pulsed fiber lasers for remote sensing and illumination and to develop a 400-kilowatt counter-uncrewed laser weapons subsystem by integrating a 50-kilowatt laser with a beam-control assembly.

Directed-energy weapons

SONGBOW focuses on advancing the next generation of directed-energy weapons that use pulsed fiber laser technology integrated with high-bandwidth wavefront control subsystems. These technologies are to enhance precision, adaptability, and power efficiency in military and aerospace laser weapons applications.

Pulsed fiber lasers are compact efficient laser sources that offer high peak power and high beam quality for targeting, sensing, and potential high-energy laser weapons applications.

Directed-energy subsystems consist of optics, thermal management, and electronic control systems necessary to steer and stabilize laser beams for precision targeting.

Related: An upward trajectory for directed-energy weapons

High-bandwidth wavefront control helps correct optical distortions in real-time to enable fine control over beam propagation and improve accuracy in turbulent or cluttered environments.

In addition to missile defense and counter-UAV applications, SONGBOW technologies are for precision tracking and imaging, electronic warfare (EW) and optical communications.

On this contract Coherent will do the work in Murrieta, Calif., and should be finished by January 2027. For more information contact Coherent online at www.coherent.com, or the Office of Naval Research at www.onr.navy.mil.