The Endurance program emerged from the DARPA Excalibur program, which sought to develop coherent optical phased array technologies to enable scalable laser weapons that are 10 times lighter and more compact than high-power chemical laser systems.

The laser phased arrays developed in the Excalibur program were to combine low-power electrically driven lasers, such as diode lasers and fiber laser amplifiers, in a coherent way. The program also focused on laser beam-steering technologies to make laser arrays conformal with aircraft.

On the current contract Northrop Grumman will do the work in Redondo Beach, Calif., and should be finished by March 2016. For more information contact Northrop Grumman Aerospace online at www.northropgrumman.com, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training at www.lockheedmartin.com/us/mst, or DARPA at www.darpa.mil