Northrop Grumman has opened the “first of its kind by private industry in the US” high-energy laser facility dedicated solely to military systems, states a company release. The Directed Energy Production Facility at Redondo Beach, Calif., will produce “powerful military lasers” that have “the potential to transform the way we equip our armed forces,” said Alexis Livanos, president of Northrop’s space technology sector.
Air Force bases inside the U.S. are heavily guarded, but they could fall victim to the same type of spectacular drone attack that struck bomber bases deep inside Russia last year, retired Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, former head of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, said July 30.