Heinrich To Deliver Keynote Speech At Directed Energy Summit
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. ET, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and founder of the first ever Congressional Directed Energy Caucus, will deliver a keynote address at the Directed Energy Summit in Washington, D.C.
To watch via livstream, click here.
Senator Heinrich has led efforts to transition directed energy weapon systems, developed by industry, national labs, and research facilities, to programs that help the United States and our allies maintain military superiority.
Last year, Senator Heinrich announced a $10 million investment in directed energy development in New Mexico. A $4.8 million award from the U.S Air Force went to Raytheon Ktech, which employs about 170 people in Albuquerque, to continue the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile (CHAMP) for use aboard the Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM). Additionally, Sandia National Laboratories received $1.4 million and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) received $3.8 million for further technology development.
Senator Heinrich helped establish a new $300 million initiative in the fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act to advance the nation’s directed energy weapons technologies. He also introduced legislation in 2016 to provide rapid acquisition authorities to the Department of Defense for directed energy weapon systems.
Most recently, Senator Heinrich 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.
The two-day Directed Energy Summit, co-sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), will bring together more than 500 government and industry stakeholders across the U.S. in defense policy, operational, funding and acquisition communities to discuss the potential development and deployment of directed energy capabilities within the next five years.
***Press interested in attending should RSVP to press@heinrich.senate.gov or call (202) 228-1578***
WHO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich
WHAT: Directed Energy Summit Speech
WHEN: From 1:30 to 2 p.m. ET
WHERE: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C.
