Cybersecurity — 2026-04-23

Navy LOCUST 20kW laser proves directed-energy counter-UAV at sea on USS George H.W. Bush

The US Navy conducted a live-fire demonstration of AeroVironment's LOCUST 20 kW laser weapon system aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) in the Atlantic on October 5, 2025, with public reporting released yesterday per Naval News, The War Zone, and an AeroVironment press release. In the test, LOCUST detected, tracked, engaged, and neutralized multiple UAVs, which Naval News described as the first laser weapon firing from a US aircraft carrier. The unit was installed as a containerized module lashed to the flight deck and operated as a standalone system without integration to the ship's combat system or fire-control network. Prior LOCUST fielding had been on land platforms including the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and the Infantry Squad Vehicle.

Analysis
LOCUST's containerized-and-lashed installation without combat-system integration is the operationally load-bearing caveat: the October test validates platform-agnostic deployment on a carrier deck, not an underway combat-integrated weapon. A real engagement against a coordinated drone swarm requires handoff between the ship's air-defense picture (Aegis, NIFC-CA) and LOCUST's own sensors, which this demonstration did not exercise. The '$5 per shot, unlimited magazine depth' framing loads the Hill budget debate toward directed-energy procurement as a complement to kinetic interceptors, the argument Congress has pressed DoD on after the Red Sea munitions-expenditure experience. AeroVironment's role as LOCUST integrator, after Lockheed and Northrop dominance of ship-mounted directed-energy, is the second-order industrial signal: a platform-agnostic 20 kW commercial unit competitive against bespoke naval systems may shift who wins the next generation of shipboard DE awards. The shift depends on whether the Navy moves from lashed-on demonstrations to a permanent integrated installation.

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