Allen Control Systems announced on November 10 that it is launching a new Directed Energy division to build laser weapons for shooting down drones, expanding beyond the gun-based Bullfrog counter-drone system that already fires roughly $10 rounds of small-caliber ammunition at incoming targets. The new division is developing a dual-band laser dazzler and a three-kilowatt laser weapon, and will be led by Amanda Clark and John Mason, both former directed-energy branch chiefs at the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command. CEO Joe Bingold said the company has already "demonstrated those capabilities with our Bullfrog autonomous weapon station," and is now applying that autonomy software to laser hardware.
The move matters because it marks ACS trying to become a two-weapon company rather than a single-product vendor at a moment when the Pentagon has already bought into its gun system — the military purchased 12 Bullfrog units earlier this year for use during the Iran conflict. Adding lasers to an autonomy-and-targeting platform that already works is a far less risky bet than building a laser company from scratch.
Why the Pentagon Wants Lasers, Not Just Bullets
Small, cheap drones have made counter-drone economics a genuine military problem: a $500 quadcopter can force a defender to fire a $50,000 missile, or in gun-based systems like Bullfrog, dozens of rounds per engagement. Lasers promise a different cost curve entirely — once built, a shot costs little beyond electricity, with no resupply chain for ammunition. That appeal is why the Pentagon has funded multiple laser programs for years, but most have struggled to move from demonstration to fielded systems because of power, cooling and targeting integration problems.
ACS is betting its advantage is not the laser itself but the targeting and autonomy software wrapped around it — the same software stack that already tracks and engages drones for Bullfrog. That is a meaningfully different approach than pure directed-energy specialists, who often have strong laser hardware but weaker battlefield-ready autonomy and command integration.
A Crowded, High-Stakes Field
ACS is not alone in chasing this market. Larger defense primes and specialized counter-drone laser firms have pursued similar systems for years, and this week's AeroVironment deal for $405 million worth of its own LOCUST X3 laser systems shows just how much international demand already exists for directed-energy counter-drone weapons. ACS, by contrast, is a smaller, autonomy-first company trying to leverage its existing Pentagon relationship and fielded hardware rather than compete purely on laser wattage.
The three-kilowatt output ACS is targeting sits well below the tens-of-kilowatts systems some larger drone-killing lasers use against bigger targets, suggesting ACS is optimizing for cost and portability over raw power — useful against small first-person-view drones and quadcopters rather than cruise missiles or larger aircraft. Whether that's enough to win Pentagon contracts against better-funded directed-energy specialists will depend on how quickly ACS can move its dazzler and laser from division launch to field demonstration, the same transition that has stalled other programs before it.
Source: Breaking Defense