US Military to Test Beaming Down Power to Combat Zones

Let's be honest here... I'm a nerd for future military tech.

Image courtesy DARPA and RTX

Occasionally, there will be a future tech innovation that the US or its allies are working on that will catch my attention. When US scientists built a jam-proof motion sensor, I wrote about it and even made a video for YouTube.

This is one of those stories!

When I was a grunt, the bane of my existence was lugging around heavy lithium-ion batteries to power our radios, night vision, what we colloquially called “pluggers” (PLGR for Precision Lightweight GPS Receivers), and other power-hungry gear.

But imagine a future where soldiers don’t have to lug around heavy batteries, where drones can stay airborne indefinitely, and where the Army’s logistical Achilles’ heel—the vulnerable fuel convoy—becomes a thing of the past.

That’s the vision driving the Army’s recent contract with Raytheon, an RTX business, to develop directed energy wireless power systems.

Power beaming, at its core, involves transmitting energy over long distances without the need for physical cables or wires.

The process utilizes either high-energy coherent microwaves or laser beams to send power from a source to a receiver. This isn’t the inductive charging you use to power your smartphone or smartwatch; this is next-level technology that operates across vastly greater distances with pinpoint precision.

This would be incredibly useful for “expeditionary” units – that is, units that operate far forward of traditional supply lines. Fun fact: I received the Army Expeditionary Medal for guarding Patriot missiles deep in the Iraqi desert for six months without any connection to resupply.

So, something like this – getting power “from above” would have been amazing.

Also, before we jump in, at least one commercial system has been developed in New Zealand as a way of sending power to remote communities. So, the concept is feasible in practice as well as in principle.

Here’s how it works: the network would consist of three major components—transmitters, relays, and receivers. The transmitter would use a ground-based laser or microwave system to generate a high-energy beam.

This beam would then be relayed through airborne platforms, such as drones or high-altitude aircraft, which are equipped with specialized optical systems to capture and redirect the energy. Finally, the beam would reach a receiver station, where it would be converted back into usable electrical energy, providing power to devices, vehicles, or even entire facilities.

This method eliminates the need for traditional infrastructure, such as cables, fuel depots, or battery supply chains, which are vulnerable to attack and logistical delays.

To put the magnitude of this advancement into perspective, traditional power systems depend on physical transport—fuel trucks or supply convoys—to deliver energy where it’s needed.

These convoys often become targets in contested areas, creating vulnerabilities and operational headaches. Power beaming bypasses these risks by delivering energy literally at the speed of light.