GA-ASI Unveils Tactical High Energy Laser Pod for MQ-9B at Sea Air Land 2025
By Defense Technology Reporter
April 10, 2025
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has unveiled a groundbreaking tactical high energy laser (HEL) pod for its MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at this year's Sea Air Land defense exhibition. The new system represents a significant advancement in directed energy weapons for unmanned platforms, potentially revolutionizing tactical air operations against a variety of threats.
Revolutionary Compact Design
The new HEL pod leverages GA-ASI's extensive experience with distributed gain laser technology, which has been in development for several years in partnership with Boeing for ground-based applications. The system employs advanced solid-state laser technology designed to enable detection and defeat of various targets including unmanned aerial systems, missile threats, ISR systems, rockets, artillery, and mortars.
What makes this airborne system particularly remarkable is its compact size and weight, achieved through GA-ASI's innovative approach to laser design. Rather than using a single large slab that requires extensive cooling, or multiple fiber lasers that need complex beam-combination systems, the distributed gain design employs several smaller slabs connected in series. This architecture allows for efficient heat management while maintaining excellent beam quality.
The pod is designed to be mounted on the MQ-9B's external hardpoints, similar to how the platform carries other weapon systems and specialized pods. Company officials emphasized that the design carefully considers the platform's size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints while delivering tactically significant laser power.
Technical Specifications and Capabilities
While specific power output figures weren't publicly disclosed, industry analysts suggest the airborne system likely delivers power in the tens of kilowatts range, sufficient for engaging small unmanned aircraft, lightweight vehicles, and sensor systems. The pod incorporates precision acquisition, tracking, and pointing software derived from GA-ASI's work with Boeing on larger ground-based systems.
The HEL pod includes an integrated thermal management system and specialized power management technology to support sustained operation from the UAV platform. This technology builds upon GA-ASI's earlier work on the High-Energy Liquid Laser (HELLADS) program and their third-generation laser systems that were designed for integration into both manned and unmanned aircraft systems.
Key technical challenges addressed in the design include maintaining beam quality over distance through atmospheric distortion, power generation and storage in the limited space of a pod, and thermal management to prevent overheating during operation. The system reportedly incorporates advanced optics and beam control to maximize effectiveness at operational ranges.
Tactical Applications
The addition of a directed energy weapon to the MQ-9B significantly expands its mission capabilities beyond traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations and conventional strike missions. The laser pod offers several tactical advantages:
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Low-cost engagements: Unlike conventional munitions with significant per-unit costs, laser weapons require only the power to operate, potentially allowing dozens of engagements during a single mission.
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Counter-UAS capability: The system is particularly well-suited for defending against small drones and swarm attacks that might otherwise require expensive missiles to defeat.
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Precision effects: Laser weapons can precisely target specific components of a system, such as sensors, communications equipment, or control surfaces, offering graduated effects from temporary disruption to permanent destruction.
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Reduced collateral damage: The highly focused nature of laser weapons minimizes risk to surrounding areas compared to explosive munitions.
The MQ-9B's exceptional endurance of 40+ hours makes it an ideal platform for persistent defense against threats like small unmanned aircraft, allowing it to provide extended protection for high-value assets or forward operating bases.
International Market Positioning
GA-ASI is positioning the HEL-equipped MQ-9B as a response to evolving battlefield threats, particularly the proliferation of low-cost drones that can overwhelm conventional air defenses. The company emphasized that the system is designed to complement rather than replace conventional munitions, offering commanders additional options for different threat scenarios.
Several international operators of the MQ-9 platform have reportedly expressed interest in the new capability, though specific countries weren't named during the presentation. The UK's Royal Air Force, which operates the MQ-9B as the Protector RG Mk 1, and Japan's recent acquisition of SeaGuardian platforms make them potential early adopters of the technology.
Future Development Roadmap
GA-ASI officials outlined plans to continue increasing the power output and efficiency of the laser system in future iterations. The modular nature of the pod is designed to accommodate upgrades as laser technology advances without requiring complete replacement.
Field testing of the system is expected to begin later this year, with initial operational capability projected for late 2026. The company is also exploring potential integration with other sensor packages to enhance target identification and post-strike assessment capabilities.
The HEL pod represents GA-ASI's commitment to expanding the capabilities of its unmanned systems to address emerging threats in increasingly contested environments, furthering the MQ-9B's position as one of the most versatile unmanned platforms in operation today.
Sources:
- Laser Weapon Systems | General Atomics
- General Atomics' New Compact, High-Powered Lasers
- Hellads Laser Completes Development | General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
- MQ-9B SkyGuardian | General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
- High Energy Laser weapon system in development with Boeing, General Atomics
MQ-9B Shown with Airborne Laser at Sea Air Space 2025 - Naval News
General Atomics is pushing forward with several new technologies shown at Sea Air Space 2025, including, for the first time, a display of a new podded air-to-air laser system on their MQ-9B platform.
A new airborne laser pod, seen in detail at Sea Air Space, is being pitched as a solution for fleet defense against one-way attack drones. The capability is separate from previous efforts by the Department of Defense to put lasers on aircraft.
The new laser is part of the General Atomics Laser Weapon Systems portfolio, centering around the scalable High Energy Laser (HEL) Weapon System. The laser is in the 25kW class and scalable to 300kW in both pulsed and continuous wave systems, capable of operating in all environments.
“The system’s large optical aperture and efficient cooling offers significant reductions in size and weight to suit air, land and sea-based platforms.”
General Atomics
The General Atomics booth at Sea Air Space featured a display of an MQ-9 with an underwing laser pod firing at several ‘Shahed’ style one-way attack drones approaching a surface warship. The pod holds a 25kW distributed gain laser with a large ram air intake for cooling, alongside an ultra-high power density battery system.
The airborne laser concept uses distributed gain technology to enable airborne operations with tight size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. Distributed gain allows for efficient cooling and beam generation that can handle the requirements of flight and constraints that an aircraft poses to onboard systems.
An airborne laser is not new to the General Atomics laser portfolio. Development of an unspecified airborne laser dates back several years. Since 2021, the company has been pitching its laser weapons as efficient and small enough to suit airborne platforms.
A Breaking Defense interview with then-vice president for laser and electro-optic (LEO) systems Michael Perry outlined the company’s intentions for its laser weapons portfolio, mentioning that the company could put lasers on aircraft—with plans to do so in coming years.
In 2025, the podded laser concept is being brought to the MQ-9 family. General Atomics has experience with stabilizing narrow laser beams for its UAS platforms and has demonstrated its capability with the Laser Airborne Communication (LAC)-12 Terminal. LAC-12 is able to transmit and receive laser-delivered communications over long distances with a successful test between two aircraft completed in 2022.
A previous cancelled effort, the Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, had Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman as prime contractors. SHiELD looked to develop and field an airborne laser demonstrator for 4th generation aircraft like the F-16 and F-15. It was cancelled in 2024 without any flight tests. The General Atomics effort shown at Sea Air Space 2025 is unrelated to the SHiELD program.
General Atomics continues to offer its suite of MQ-9 mission modules to the United States and allies, alongside a number of new capabilities developed internally and with partners. Naval News had the opportunity to cover the company’s internally developed Long Range Maneuvering Projectile (LRMP) with Scott Forney, President of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, at AUSA 2024. Naval News also covered the General Atomics Bullseye missile with Forney at Sea Air Space 2025. Read more about that here.
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