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.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.