The Congressional Research Service updated its Directed Energy Weapons primer (IF11882) on January 7, 2026 — version 14 of a document that has been continuously revised since July 2021. The report is the US Congress’s own briefing document on where directed energy weapons stand, what they cost, and where they are going. Reading it alongside the UAP record produces some striking intersections.
What the Report Defines
The Department of Defense defines directed energy weapons as those using “concentrated electromagnetic energy, rather than kinetic energy, to incapacitate, damage, disable, or destroy enemy equipment, facilities, and/or personnel.” Two primary categories exist: high-energy lasers (HEL) and high-powered microwave (HPM) weapons. The report explicitly excludes particle beam weapons from its scope — a category that exists and is under active research but is not yet publicly documented as a deployed system.
Current Power Levels and the Roadmap
US directed energy weapons currently operate at approximately 150 kilowatts. The DOD Directed Energy Roadmap (most recent public version: May 17, 2024) sets specific targets: 500 kW capability with reduced size and weight in the 2025–2030 timeframe, with megawatt-scale weapons “at some point thereafter.” The CRS report provides a capability ladder against these power levels:
- ~100 kW: Engage unmanned aircraft systems, small boats, rockets, artillery, mortars
- ~300 kW: Additionally engage cruise missiles flying across (not at) the laser
- ~1 MW: Potentially neutralise ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons
Budget and Programme Status
DOD requested $789.7 million for unclassified DE programmes in FY2025 — down from a $962.4 million request and $1.1 billion appropriation in FY2024. The department is not known to have any DE programmes of record. The High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI) is the primary scaling programme, focused on demonstrating laser power increase while maintaining beam quality and efficiency. The Principal Director for Directed Energy within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering oversees all DOD DE programmes.
The UAP Intersection
The report confirms that 1 MW lasers could potentially neutralise hypersonic weapons. UAP tracked by US military assets — including objects tracked in PURSUE Release 01 — routinely perform manoeuvres that exceed hypersonic flight profiles and demonstrate instantaneous velocity changes that no known human aerospace technology can produce. A craft capable of those manoeuvres would require energy systems orders of magnitude beyond current human aerospace capability. Those same energy systems — operating at levels far above the megawatt scale — would trivially produce directed energy effects that match documented UAP beam weapon incidents. The capability gap runs in only one direction.
Source: CRS Report IF11882, Defense Primer: Directed-Energy Weapons, Version 14, January 7, 2026. Author: Kelley M. Sayler. congress.gov/crs-product/IF11882.