Heinrich Announces Major Breakthrough For Directed Energy, $16.7M In Bipartisan Budget Agreement

Category: Non-Local News Releases Non-Local News Releases
Published: 02 May 2017 02 May 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 2, 2017) - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and founder of the Congressional Directed Energy Caucus, helped secure $16.7 million for the rapid production and procurement of the Department of Defense's first-ever directed energy weapon system to be fielded to U.S. troops in an operational environment. Recently, ISIS has been loading explosives on drones that are being used to kill Iraqi Security Forces and are endangering U.S. forces. The funding, which is in the defense portion of the 2017 fiscal year spending bill that Congress will vote on this week, will procure five high-energy-laser weapon systems to protect forward operating bases from enemy drones.

"Hundreds of New Mexicans are employed in the directed energy field and are making major contributions to our national defense'with this announcement, they will be contributing directly to the fight against ISIS," said Sen. Heinrich. "With our state's unique expertise in directed energy work, this funding will jumpstart the deployment of this critical technology and bring more high-paying jobs to New Mexico. I have been pushing the Department of Defense to deploy directed energy for years and on Secretary Mattis' first day I urged him to finally provide our armed forces with the advantage it provides over our adversaries. Now we are finally doing it and creating great New Mexico jobs as well."

Senator Heinrich has led efforts to transition directed energy weapon systems, developed in New Mexico by industry, national labs, and research facilities, to programs that help the United States and our allies maintain military superiority. He sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis on January 23, 2017, his first day as the head of the Pentagon, urging him and the Department of Defense to provide sufficient resources to accelerate the development of next generation weapon systems'specifically directed energy'toward acquisition programs of record.

In March, Senator Heinrich delivered a keynote address at the Directed Energy Summit in Washington, D.C. highlighting his commitment to support and invest in directed energy technology.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.