Pentagon Awards $86 Million in Directed Energy Contracts to nLIGHT, Lockheed
The agreements signal sustained Defense Department investment in laser-based counter-drone systems as the military advances non-kinetic aerial defense options.
The Pentagon's Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering announced two Joint Laser Weapon System Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements on Thursday with nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight, according to reporting by the Washington Examiner dated July 2026. The initial combined value of the agreements is $86 million, with the total program value not yet publicly disclosed in available contract documentation.
The agreements fall under the Other Transaction Authority mechanism, a contracting pathway authorized under 10 U.S.C. § 4022 that allows the Defense Department to execute research and prototype agreements outside standard Federal Acquisition Regulation rules. OTA contracts are frequently used for emerging and prototype technologies where speed and flexibility are prioritized over traditional competitive bidding timelines.
nLIGHT Defense is a subsidiary of nLIGHT, Inc., a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: LASR) specializing in high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers. Lockheed Martin Aculight is a directed energy division of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), one of the Defense Department's largest prime contractors by annual obligated dollars, according to USASpending.gov records. Neither company's lobbying expenditures specific to directed energy programs are itemized at the line-item level in Lobbying Disclosure Act filings, though both parent organizations file quarterly LDA reports disclosing general defense technology advocacy.
The Defense Department has identified counter-drone capabilities as a priority area across multiple budget cycles. The Pentagon's fiscal year 2026 budget request, submitted to Congress in early 2025, included funding lines for directed energy programs within both the Army and Navy service branches, though the specific program element numbers associated with this OTA award are not confirmed in publicly available contract notices as of the publication date of this article.
What remains unknown includes the full ceiling value of the OTA agreements, the performance period, specific technical milestones, and whether additional vendors may be added under a follow-on competitive phase. The complete contract award notices, when posted, would appear on SAM.gov under the relevant solicitation numbers and would disclose those details. Congressional oversight of OTA spending falls primarily under the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, which have in recent sessions requested increased transparency reporting from the Pentagon on OTA contract usage.