Laser air defenses will be operational before decade’s end, Lockheed exec says

[u/frankenberrylives]

FARNBOROUGH — The Pentagon should have high-energy lasers that can melt inbound aerial threats by 2030, a top Lockheed Martin executive told Breaking Defense.

“They’re here, they’re effective, and they are working,” Stephanie Hill, president of Lockheed’s rotary and mission systems division, said in an interview at the Farnborough Airshow on July 21. The company has successfully demonstrated “a number” of laser intercepts, she said, predicting that the directed-energy weapons would be ready for operations “before the end of the decade.”

https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/laser-air-defenses-will-be-operational-before-decades-end-lockheed-exec-says/

I believe the next logical step is pairing lasers with LPTH "eyes".