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DIRECTED ENERGY SYMPOSIUM

  • September 2-3, 2026
  • 151 St George, National Harbor, MD

Event Overview

The 9th Annual Directed Energy Symposium will convene leading experts, policymakers, leaders, and innovators across the Directed Energy community to explore the latest advancements and applications in directed energy systems and technologies to support the Warfighter and national defense objectives. Discussions at the event will provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of directed energy warfare and the associated opportunities and challenges. The symposium arrives at a pivotal inflection point for the directed energy enterprise. For decades, the promise of speed-of-light engagement, near-zero cost per shot, and deep magazines against massed aerial threats remained just beyond operational reach. That moment has passed. Senior Department of War officials have declared directed energy operationally mature, the Navy’s HELIOS system has now defeated drone targets in live at-sea testing, the Army is advancing the Enduring High Energy Laser toward its first program of record, and the Marine Corps has taken delivery of its first expeditionary high-power microwave system. The question is no longer whether directed energy works. The question is how fast we can scale it, sustain it, and fight with it.

2025 Confirmed Speakers Included

  • Dr. Chris Vergien

    Principal Director of Directed Energy OSD R&E

  • COL Steven Gutierrez, USA

    Program Manager DE M-SHORAD, Army RCCTO

  • COL Matt Johnson, USA

    Commander, White Sands Test Center

  • Dr. Neset Akӧzbek

    Senior Research Scientist, Technical Center, Army Space and Missile Defense Command

  • Dr. Neil Thurgood

    Senior Strategy Advisor, Anduril

  • Peter A. Morrison

    Program Officer, Directed Energy Weapons Counter Directed Energy Weapons and High Energy Lasers, Office of Naval Research

  • Dr. Steve T Fiorino

    Director, Center for Directed Energy, Air Force Institute of Technology

  • Thomas Karr

    Chief Scientist, Sensors and Directed Energy, MITRE

About the 2026 Directed Energy Symposium

TOPICS TO BE COVERED

  • Scaling and Operationalizing Directed Energy Across the Department of War
  • Advancing High-Power Microwave Systems for the Multi-Domain Battlespace
  • Advancing Test and Evaluation Frameworks to Accelerate Directed Energy Fielding
  • Beyond the Beam: Advancing Thermal Management and Optical Innovation to Unlock the Full Potential of Directed Energy
  • Hardening Systems, Protecting Warfighters, and Countering Adversarial Directed Energy Threats
  • A Laser on Every Ship: The CNO’s Vision for Integrating Directed Energy Across the Fleet
  • Delivering the Army’s Directed Energy Future: Inside PAE Fires’ DE-RPD and the Race to Field the Enduring High Energy Laser
  • Defending the Nation at the Speed of Light: MDA’s Vision for Directed Energy in the Layered Missile Defense Architecture

The 9th Annual Directed Energy Symposium arrives at a pivotal inflection point for the directed energy enterprise. For decades, the promise of speed-of-light engagement, near-zero cost per shot, and deep magazines against massed aerial threats remained just beyond operational reach. That moment has passed. Senior Department of War officials have declared directed energy operationally mature, the Navy’s HELIOS system has now defeated drone targets in live at-sea testing, the Army is advancing the Enduring High Energy Laser toward its first program of record, and the Marine Corps has taken delivery of its first expeditionary high-power microwave system. The Department of War commits an average of $1 billion annually to directed energy research, development, test, and evaluation and the global directed energy weapons market is projected to reach $27.95 billion by 2034. The question is no longer whether directed energy works. The question is how fast we can scale it, sustain it, and fight with it.

This year’s Symposium will convene the most senior government, military, and research voices in the directed energy enterprise to confront that challenge directly. The 9th Annual event will examine the full spectrum of what it takes to operationalize directed energy at scale from the Navy’s vision for a laser-equipped fleet and the Army’s race to field the E-HEL, to the Missile Defense Agency’s pursuit of DE for homeland missile defense. Sessions will address the critical enabling technologies still required, thermal management, adaptive optics and beam control, atmospheric characterization, as well as the acquisition reforms, joint requirements alignment, and test and evaluation frameworks needed to move DE programs from successful prototype demonstrations to confident fielding decisions. Panelists will hear firsthand on HPMs, Survivability in Directed Energy, Test & Evaluation, and Thermal Management and Optical Innovation. The Symposium will also examine directed energy’s most urgent operational imperative: defeating the drone and loitering munition threat at a cost the joint force can sustain.

DSI’s team specializes in the extensive research and development of our Symposium’s content and focus areas, and we will assemble the most respected minds in the Directed Energy community, including DoD, federal, and industry. Our non-partisan approach allows us to reach across all services and organizations to bring together a truly holistic group of decision makers and solution providers.

Gain Education & Insight: Walk away with knowledge gained from our senior level speakers on some of the complex challenges facing the DoD and Federal Government as it relates to directed energy systems.

Build Partnerships: The agenda is designed to allow for ample networking opportunities and the ability to discover

Influence: Help foster ideas! Share your own insight and knowledge during our interactive sessions. All attendees are encouraged to address our speaker faculty and each other with their questions, comments or ideas.

 

DSI’s Symposium directly supports DoD & Federal Government priorities by providing a conduit for officials to efficiently reach audiences outside of their respective offices that directly impact their department’s mission success, at no charge to the government, and in an efficient expenditure of time.

DSI’s Symposium will provide a forum to address and improve internal and external initiatives, meet with and hear from partner organizations, disseminate vital capability requirements to industry, increase visibility within the larger community, and generally support their mission.

The Symposium is open and complimentary to all DoD and Federal employees and is considered an educational training forum, and a widely attended gathering.

(Industry and academia members are charged a fee for admission.)

Symposium is CLOSED TO PRESS / NO RECORDINGS

SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS

The Directed Energy Symposium provides opportunities including exhibit space, product demonstrations, and networking receptions.

BECOME A SPONSOR or Exhibitor

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