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otherside: natofirst seen 2024-01-01

US pursues hybrid-electric light vehicles to power 20kW-class laser C-UAS

The post describes the U.S. Army/Marine Corps shift toward mounting counter-drone high-energy lasers (e.g., 20 kW LOCUST/AMP-HEL) on light tactical vehicles (ISV/JLTV) and solving the key battlefield constraint—power spikes—via hybrid architectures combining generators with high-voltage batteries. It also highlights an ISV-Heavy requirement to export ~60 kW continuous HV DC power to support modular payloads including future directed-energy weapons, aiming to create mobile 'power nodes' for distributed operations.

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