Lockheed beats five competitors to win SHiELD effort's laser source contract

Lockheed Martin will join the Air Force's effort to put a self-defensive laser pod on a fighter jet under a contract worth up to $26.3 million awarded this week.

The "Laser Advancements for Next-Generation Compact Environments" contract to Lockheed Martin's laser and sensor branch, based in Washington state, requires the company to develop a laser to work with a beam-control system designed by Northrop Grumman and a pod built by Boeing. LANCE is the third and final major contract of the Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator program.

Maj. Gen. John McMullen, vice commander of Air Combat Command, said in June SHiELD aims to integrate an external laser onto an F-15 in fiscal year 2018 before designing a weapon to fit inside the aircraft. The service will try to shoot down an infrared-guided missile in a high-power test expected in FY-21.

Six companies bid on the LANCE contract, according to the Defense Department's Sept. 26 contract announcement. Inside Defense previously reported Raytheon, General Atomics and Northrop were among Lockheed's potential competitors. Lockheed is receiving $2 million in fiscal year 2017 funds up front, and work will run until Sept. 30, 2022.