An artist’s rendering of the Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser system, or IFPC-HEL system, nicknamed “Valkyrie.” (Lockheed Martin)
The U.S. Army has shelved its “Valkyrie” laser anti-missile system, shifting instead to the newer Joint Laser Weapon System, to be built with the Navy as part of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile defense strategy, according to a congressional report.
The Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser system, or IFPC-HEL, nicknamed “Valkyrie,” is designed to deliver 300 kilowatts of energy that developers had hoped could knock cruise missiles and drones out of the sky.
A March 9 report by the Congressional Research Service said the Army’s decision to move on from the Valkyrie system reflects technical challenges researchers have encountered with a continuous-wave beam capable of tracking and holding a fast, hardened cruise missile target long enough to destroy its warhead or scramble its inertial guidance system.
The newer Joint Laser Weapon System “represents the next step in the evolution of counter-cruise missile laser weapons,” according to the Army’s fiscal year 2026 budget request released in June 2025. “Laser Wars” was the first to report the development.
President Donald Trump announced the Golden Dome anti-missile “shield” last year. Congressional estimates put the initial cost of the system at $185 billion, with an operational target of about 2035. If the entire system, including space-based interceptors, were built, the cost would be over $1 trillion over several decades, according to Aviation Week magazine.
The “Valkyrie” program has been reduced to a single prototype for testing only, according to the CRS report. The prototype isn’t expected to be fully delivered to the Army until September. At that point, the prototype will be used to “inform the Joint Laser Warfighting System” rather than move into operational production, the CRS report said.
The Army awarded Lockheed Martin $220.8 million to develop four “Valkyrie” prototypes, according to the report.
The decision on “Valkyrie” comes after the Army’s earlier decision not to field the Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense system. The experimental program would have mounted a 50‑kilowatt power laser weapon on a Stryker armored combat vehicle.
Though laser weapons remain a major priority in U.S. weapons development, the current technology is likely insufficient to reliably defend against attacks by numerous cruise missiles, the CRS report said.
Russia and China have developed hypersonic cruise missiles capable of traveling more than five times the speed of sound, according to the Army. The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported in 2025 that cruise missiles launched from Russian aircraft or Chinese ships and submarines represent a significant risk to American personnel, ships and installations around the globe.
The report notes that cruise missiles travel at high speed with hardened warheads and guidance systems that can make them more difficult to target long enough with beamed weapons to destroy or disorient the missile.
“Valkyrie” isn’t the Pentagon’s sole anti-cruise missile defense program, the report said.
The Navy is working on countermeasure programs, such as the High Energy Laser Counter-Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (HELCAP-ASCM) program.
The program would use more powerful lasers to defend against potential hypersonic threats.
The Army is working toward fielding the Enduring High Energy Laser system, which could be the first Army program of directed energy weapons.
The EHEL system has been designed with feedback from troops who used energy weapons. They found shortcomings in handling weather variations, maintaining charging power, cooling and parts maintenance. The EHEL is being designed for durable operational use by soldiers and is not planned to go through an extensive prototyping period.
