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Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Etiido Uko

Pentagon budget reveals it's pursuing containerized 300kW+ laser weapons, ambitious Joint Laser Weapon System designed to shoot down cruise missiles — system part of $17.9 billion Golden Dome missile-defense initiative

Laser weapon system.

Newly released Pentagon budget documents published earlier this month reveal that the US military is accelerating development of a new Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) designed to shoot down cruise missiles. The documents, including the Department of War's fiscal year budget for 2027 (FY2027), research and development justification books, and Golden Dome missile-defense funding proposals, signal one of the most serious pushes yet toward operational directed-energy missile defense systems.

The JWLS is part of a broader “Golden Dome for America” missile-defense initiative, a layered homeland defense architecture designed to counter ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats.

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