Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract Friday to develop a mobile truck-mounted laser capable of destroying rockets, artillery shells and mortars, the US Army said.
Northrop Grumman will be in competition with Boeing which was awarded a seven million dollar contract to develop a similar higher energy laser that can be mounted on a heavy truck.
The eight million dollar Northrop Grumman contract calls for it to "develop and complete a preliminary design of a rugged beam control system" on a truck.
The contract is part of an army program to demonstrate the feasibility of a tactical mobile high energy laser weapon that can counter rockets, artillery shells and mortars, known as RAM projectiles.
The army program "is maturing the technologies for the integration of a high energy laser into a wheeled tactical platform," Bill Gnacek, the program's manager said in a statement.
"Our main goal is to transition this HEL TD (High Energy Laser Tactical Demonstrator) technology into a formal acquisition program and eventually place in the hands of army commanders an effective lethal capability to counter RAM projectiles," he said.
