
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $26.3 million contract to design and build a high-power laser demonstrator that could be tested on a fighter jet by 2021, the company announced Nov. 6.AFRL received six bids to provide the fiber laser, named the Laser Advancements for Next-generation Compact Environments (LANCE).LANCE is one of three subsystems AFRL is pursuing as part of its Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program. SHiELD is designed to defend…