{"id":20490,"date":"2022-04-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/04\/04\/laser-weapons-development-should-involve-multiple-suppliers-says-northrop\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:51:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:51:04","slug":"laser-weapons-development-should-involve-multiple-suppliers-says-northrop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2022\/04\/04\/laser-weapons-development-should-involve-multiple-suppliers-says-northrop\/","title":{"rendered":"Laser weapons development should involve multiple suppliers, says Northrop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Northrop Grumman has been in talks with the Pentagon and the military services on a modular approach to building laser weapons<\/a> that could engage a greater number of suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defense Department is considering a modular open-system approach, or MOSA, and sent the company a request for information in October. Donna Howland, Northrop\u2019s business development director for directed energy, told Defense News that the approach would allow some companies to specialize in laser generation and beam control, while others focus on the cooling module, the batteries and the fire control subsystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOSA \u201cwill allow for an expanded supplier base and makes the whole directed-energy market more healthy, as the MOSA architecture allows for the government to decouple the subsystems from the full system architecture,\u201d she said in a March 31 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northrop has some experience with this concept already through its 150-kilowatt laser weapon system demonstrator currently installed on amphibious transport dock Portland. The company built the tactical laser core module \u2014 the source of the high-energy laser \u2014 while the Navy provided the thermal storage and energy storage. Those were combined at a Northrop factory and then installed on the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to that, Howland said, the laser weapon system demonstrator was delivered in October 2019 and then integrated and tested for the first time two months later. She said the team learned of interfaces and connections requiring modification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the things that we learned in that integration is something that we can take to the next program where we would use the MOSA architecture and have a better idea of what particular areas might be of concern and get a head start on ensuring we had a seamless interface,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northrop Grumman noted in its feedback to the DoD through a formal response to the RFI and then in a follow-up conversation. The contractor explained that a single company building the entire directed-energy weapon system might be able to achieve greater technical performance in some areas if it could pick the design rather than work to common standards and interfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the benefits of MOSA, she added, outweigh the drawbacks because it would get more companies involved in directed-energy systems and would build up the supplier base that can contribute to a potentially fast-growing market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howland noted the military services are showing great interest in the technology, and today\u2019s demonstrators could eventually become programs in need of robust production lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate program for the Air Force Research Laboratory, Lockheed Martin is providing the high-energy laser source, and Northrop Grumman is providing the beam director and beam control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, the Navy asked for $37.6 million in its fiscal 2023 budget request to build up the supply base for future technology like hypersonic weapons, directed-energy weapons and advanced batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howland said allowing companies to specialize in these batteries, for example, could generate greater industrial capacity, as opposed to a prime contractor having to handle the entire weapon system alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northrop is currently involved in three main laser weapon programs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n