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Monday, October 27, 2025

General Atomics Reveals Laser-Armed Drone Concept


MQ-20 Avenger Depicted with Laser Weapon in its Nose – UAS VISION

Industry Pushes Forward with Airborne Directed Energy

Defense contractor's MQ-20 Avenger concept reflects broader momentum toward operational laser weapons despite technical hurdles

General Atomics has unveiled a conceptual design of its MQ-20 Avenger unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a nose-mounted high-energy laser weapon, marking the latest step in a decades-long effort by defense contractors to field operational airborne directed energy systems.

The concept, displayed at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual convention last week, depicts the Avenger with a completely redesigned nose featuring a fully rotating turret capable of projecting a laser beam. While General Atomics characterized the rendering as purely conceptual, the company emphasized it reflects serious ongoing investment in combining its existing laser and unmanned aircraft technologies.

From Concept to Reality

General Atomics isn't alone in pursuing airborne laser weapons. The company has already demonstrated more operational systems, including a 25-kilowatt laser pod for its MQ-9B drone fleet, with the system scalable to 300 kilowatts. The company confirmed this development is part of a joint Department of Defense program to deliver airborne laser capabilities for persistent counter-drone missions.

Battery packs serve as a buffer between aircraft power and the laser, with separate pods available to house additional batteries for extended operation. The modular approach allows the system to be configured for various platforms across General Atomics' unmanned aircraft portfolio.

"What visitors saw at AUSA was a conceptual render and short animation of an MQ-20 Avenger with a high-energy laser system. Both of those are existing General Atomics products," said C. Mark Brinkley, a company spokesperson. He emphasized that General Atomics continues investing company funds into advancing both unmanned combat air vehicles and laser systems, individually and as integrated systems.

Building on HELLADS Heritage

General Atomics has a long history of directed energy work through its Electromagnetic Systems division. In the late 2010s, the company openly discussed plans to test a variant of the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) on the Avenger, though whether such a demonstration occurred remains unclear.

HELLADS, a DARPA program, aimed to develop a 150-kilowatt laser weapon system ten times smaller and lighter than existing lasers of similar power. HELLADS combined the high energy delivery of solid-state laser technology with the efficient thermal management of liquid laser technology.  I worked on the system during the development at GA-ASI. When we ran it at full power, all the lights in that area of San Diego would dim. The system completed government acceptance testing in 2015 and was shipped to White Sands Missile Range for live-fire trials. General Atomics subsequently developed second and third generation versions with improved efficiency and reduced size, with the third generation being incorporated into a Tactical Laser Weapon Module designed for integration into both manned and unmanned aircraft.

Industry-Wide Pursuit Despite Setbacks

The quest for airborne laser weapons extends across major defense contractors, though progress has been uneven. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman developed the YAL-1 Airborne Laser, a modified Boeing 747 with a megawatt-class chemical laser that successfully destroyed test missiles in 2010. However, the program was canceled in 2011 after $5 billion in development costs, with officials citing prohibitive operational expenses.

More recently, Lockheed Martin delivered its LANCE (Laser Advancements for Next-generation Compact Environments) system to the Air Force Research Laboratory as part of the SHiELD program. The laser is one-sixth the size of systems Lockheed produced for the Army in 2017, though full system testing has been repeatedly delayed.

In March 2024, the Air Force confirmed it had canceled plans to test a high-energy laser on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship, citing unspecified "technical challenges." The program was refocused on ground testing.

RTX's Raytheon division has made more concrete progress with lower-power systems. In December 2024, the British Army successfully tested Raytheon's High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) against moving aerial targets in Wales. The system has logged more than 40,000 testing hours and downed over 400 targets in operational use with U.S. forces.

Technical and Operational Challenges

Directed energy weapons offer significant advantages: near-instantaneous engagement, effectively unlimited ammunition with sufficient power, and silent, often invisible operation. These attributes make them attractive for counter-drone missions, where swarms of cheap targets can overwhelm traditional missile defenses.

However, persistent technical challenges have slowed fielding. Former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin expressed skepticism about airborne lasers in 2020, questioning whether platforms could carry lasers powerful enough for their intended missions while operating at altitudes where atmospheric turbulence could be mitigated.

Size, weight, and power constraints remain critical issues for tactical aircraft. Air Force officials noted that tactical fighters are "filled to the brim" with equipment, making integration of laser systems particularly challenging.

Path Forward

Despite obstacles, General Atomics sees multiple pathways to operational systems. Brinkley noted that a final configuration could take various forms—from podded systems on MQ-9B or Gray Eagle platforms to integrated weapons on the company's Gambit family of unmanned combat jets.

The MQ-20 Avenger, with its stealthy profile and internal weapons bay, has been tested for roles including intelligence, surveillance, strike, and loyal wingman missions with the U.S. Navy and Air Force. The jet-powered drone's long endurance could enable extended laser operations once power and cooling challenges are resolved.

Industry observers note that advances in solid-state lasers, battery technology, and thermal management continue to push directed energy systems closer to practical deployment. As drone threats proliferate globally—from conflicts in Ukraine to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea—demand for cost-effective counter-measures is accelerating development timelines.

For now, General Atomics' laser-armed Avenger remains conceptual. But with operational 25-kilowatt systems already flying on MQ-9B drones and third-generation HELLADS technology available, the company appears positioned to move quickly should military requirements and funding materialize.

Sources

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