Light Guide Optics Emerges L1 in ₹3.7 Crore DRDO-CHESS Collimated Fibre Laser Array Programme

Indian precision-optics specialist Light Guide Optics Pvt. Ltd. has emerged as the lowest bidder for a Defence Research and Development Organisation programme to develop a Collimated Fibre Laser Array, marking another significant industry-linked development within India’s expanding high-power laser technology ecosystem.

The programme is significant because CHESS is one of the DRDO establishments associated with high-energy technologies and directed-energy research. A collimated fibre laser array represents an important class of optical technology for generating, conditioning and directing multiple laser outputs with controlled beam characteristics, capabilities that have relevance to the broader development of scalable high-power laser systems.

Tender Floated by DRDO-CHESS in January 2026

DRDO initiated the procurement on 12 January 2026 for the “Development of Collimated Fiber Laser Array.” The original bid-submission deadline was 2 February before being extended to 10 February 2026 through a corrigendum.

The procurement falls under the Department of Defence Research and Development, with CHESS at Hyderabad serving as the concerned laboratory. The tender was structured as a development requirement rather than a simple purchase of an off-the-shelf optical component, indicating an effort to obtain a specialised laser-array capability through domestic industry participation.

The financial evaluation subsequently placed Light Guide Optics at the head of the bidding process at approximately ₹3.7 crore. Public procurement records also show participation by other established Indian technology companies, including Bharat Electronics Limited, Mistral Solutions, Paras Defence and Space Technologies and Sahajanand Laser Technology, highlighting the specialised industrial interest surrounding the requirement.

What a Collimated Fibre Laser Array Does

A fibre laser generates laser energy within an optical fibre containing an active gain medium. Fibre-based architectures have become increasingly important in high-power laser systems because they can offer strong electrical efficiency, compact construction, good beam quality and a modular route towards higher output levels.

Collimation is equally important. Laser energy emerging from an optical fibre naturally diverges as it propagates, and optical elements are therefore used to shape the output into a beam with tightly controlled divergence. A collimated output remains comparatively narrow over distance and can consequently be directed with far greater precision than an uncontrolled divergent beam.

An array extends this architecture across several optical channels. Multiple fibre-laser outputs and their associated collimating optics can be arranged together so that their energy is directed towards a required region or subsequently integrated into a larger beam-delivery architecture. The engineering challenge involves considerably more than placing several lasers alongside one another, because optical alignment, beam quality, thermal management, mechanical stability and precise control become increasingly demanding as power and channel count rise.

The precise configuration, power level and intended operational role of the CHESS system have not been made public in the accessible tender information. The programme should therefore be described specifically as the development of a Collimated Fibre Laser Array, rather than assigning an unconfirmed weapon power, engagement range or operational configuration to the system.

Why Fibre Lasers Matter for High-Power Defence Applications

High-power lasers have become an important area of defence research internationally because they offer a fundamentally different method of delivering energy against a target. Instead of launching a conventional projectile or interceptor missile, a laser system directs concentrated electromagnetic energy towards a precisely selected point.

DRDO itself has identified high-power lasers as a major emerging technology for defence and security and has conducted research into laser-based directed-energy systems for many years. Fibre lasers are especially attractive because their architecture lends itself to modular scaling, allowing several individual laser channels to contribute towards progressively higher levels of usable power.

This modular approach becomes important as laser systems progress from laboratory demonstrations towards practical military equipment. Increasing useful output while preserving beam quality, controlling heat and keeping the system compact enough for operational deployment are among the principal technological challenges facing high-power laser development.

The CHESS requirement for a collimated fibre laser array therefore sits within a technically important area of India’s wider laser-development effort, even though the tender itself does not publicly disclose the eventual platform or weapon-system configuration for which the array will be used.

CHESS at the Centre of India’s Directed-Energy Development

The Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences has played an important role in India’s research into directed-energy technologies. DRDO documentation has associated CHESS with the development of laser-based directed-energy systems, including technologies intended for counter-drone applications.

One of the clearest recent examples is the Multi-channel Laser Directed Energy Weapon for a 10 kW/2 km hard-kill system developed by CHESS. DRDO publicly sought Indian industry partners for transfer of technology for the system, describing it as combining multiple detection capabilities with a laser hard-kill capability extending to two kilometres.

That programme illustrates the direction in which India’s directed-energy ecosystem has already progressed. Laser sources, beam-control optics, electro-optical tracking, precision pointing, thermal management, power systems and target detection must work together as a single integrated architecture before a high-energy laser becomes operationally useful.

A collimated fibre laser array addresses an important part of this broader technological chain by dealing with the generation and controlled propagation of laser energy across multiple optical channels.

From Single Lasers to Scalable Multi-Channel Architectures

One of the central problems in developing practical laser weapons is power scaling. Increasing the output of a single laser source indefinitely introduces increasingly difficult thermal, optical and material limitations. Modern high-energy laser research has therefore placed considerable emphasis on architectures that employ multiple laser modules.

Such modular systems allow designers to scale total available energy progressively while retaining manageable individual laser channels. The outputs can be conditioned and directed through sophisticated optical assemblies, providing a pathway towards increasingly powerful systems without depending entirely on one very large laser source.

This is where fibre lasers possess particular advantages. Their compact geometry, efficient heat dissipation and comparatively high-quality optical output make them suitable building blocks for multi-channel architectures. Collimator arrays form part of the optical engineering required to transform individual fibre outputs into beams capable of being used within a larger precision-directed system.

The CHESS programme therefore represents an enabling-technology effort in an area central to the evolution of higher-power laser systems.

Light Guide Optics Brings Established Precision-Optics Experience

Light Guide Optics is not a newcomer to DRDO’s optical technology ecosystem. The Indore-based company has worked on precision optical and opto-mechanical technologies for Indian research and defence programmes and has been documented by DRDO as an industry partner.

DRDO’s own industry compendium describes Light Guide Optics as a company capable of developing and manufacturing high-precision conventional and unconventional optical systems covering sizes from only a few millimetres to very large optical components. Its capabilities include working with optical glass, crystals, silicon carbide and metallic optical surfaces.

The company has previously contributed specialised hardware for DRDO programmes, including a 500-mm-diameter gold-coated metal mirror for high-power CO₂ laser applications. DRDO documentation also records its involvement in optical and opto-mechanical systems such as beam expanders, telescopes, special-purpose microscopes and other research equipment.

This background is directly relevant to a collimated laser-array programme because high-energy optical systems place demanding requirements on surface accuracy, coatings, alignment, thermal behaviour and the ability of optical components to handle intense laser energy without unacceptable degradation.

Precision Optics Are Critical to Directed-Energy Performance

High-power laser development is sometimes described primarily in terms of kilowatt output, but raw laser power alone does not determine the effectiveness of the system. A weapon can generate substantial energy and still perform poorly when that energy cannot be accurately concentrated and maintained on a distant target.

Beam quality, divergence, atmospheric propagation, optical alignment, pointing accuracy and tracking stability all influence the amount of useful energy ultimately delivered to the target. Precision optics are consequently as important to the weapon architecture as the laser source itself.

The challenge grows substantially for multi-channel laser systems. Each optical path needs to maintain its specified geometry and remain sufficiently stable despite vibration, temperature changes and the thermal loads generated during operation. Even small alignment errors can reduce the amount of energy effectively directed towards the intended point.

The development of domestic capabilities in collimators, mirrors, coatings, beam-control optics and associated opto-mechanical hardware is therefore an essential part of building a sustainable Indian high-energy laser ecosystem.

India Building a Wider Directed-Energy Technology Base

DRDO’s work in directed energy now extends across several laboratories and technology categories. The organisation has publicly identified capabilities involving laser sources, high-power fibre lasers, directed-energy weapon systems and electro-optical tracking technologies, while its academic research network includes programmes specifically focused on high-power continuous-wave lasers.

DRDO has also offered an Electro Optical Tracking System for Directed Energy Weapon for transfer to industry, demonstrating that the indigenous technology base is being developed across the entire engagement chain rather than around the laser generator alone.

The combination of laser generation, optical beam conditioning, tracking, pointing and target-engagement technologies is central to moving from experimental laser sources towards complete operational systems. Developing these capabilities domestically also reduces dependence on specialised imported optical hardware that can be difficult to source because of export restrictions and the strategic sensitivity surrounding high-energy laser technologies.

Counter-Drone Warfare Driving Demand for Laser Systems

The rapid proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles has provided one of the strongest military arguments for directed-energy weapons. Conventional air-defence missiles remain indispensable against high-value and sophisticated threats, but using expensive interceptors against large numbers of relatively inexpensive drones creates an unfavourable cost equation.

Laser systems offer a different approach. Once the equipment has been deployed and electrical power is available, repeated engagements do not require a new missile for every shot. The resulting cost per engagement can be dramatically lower than that of conventional interceptor-based defence.

High-energy lasers also offer extremely rapid engagement because the energy propagates at the speed of light. These characteristics make them especially attractive for protecting military installations and other critical infrastructure from unmanned aerial threats.

DRDO’s development of its 10 kW-class multi-channel laser system for hard-kill counter-drone applications demonstrates that this is already an active area of Indian defence research rather than a purely conceptual technology.

Private Industry Becoming Integral to Advanced Defence R&D

The Light Guide Optics result also illustrates the changing relationship between DRDO and India’s private industrial sector. Increasingly, specialised companies are being brought into development programmes involving components and technologies that were once produced almost entirely within government laboratories.

Precision optics is particularly suitable for this model because successful high-energy systems require a large ecosystem of companies capable of producing specialised mirrors, lenses, coatings, mechanical assemblies and laser components to demanding military specifications.

Building this supplier base inside India improves more than indigenous content. It creates manufacturing expertise that can support prototype development, production, maintenance, future upgrades and the creation of subsequent generations of equipment.

The presence of several Indian defence and technology companies in the CHESS tender also indicates that an indigenous competitive base is beginning to emerge around sophisticated laser and optical technologies.

L1 Status Is an Important Procurement Milestone

Light Guide Optics’ position needs to be described accurately within the government procurement process. The available public financial-bid record identifies the company as the L1 bidder at approximately ₹3.7 crore, establishing its position as the lowest evaluated financial bidder for the programme.

L1 status represents an important procurement milestone, but it should not automatically be treated as identical to a separately confirmed final contract award. One public tender record for the requirement does not presently show a corresponding contract-award notice, while procurement-data services describe the result as an L1 or presumptive outcome pending the subsequent contracting process.

For that reason, the programme is most accurately reported as Light Guide Optics emerging L1 for the ₹3.7-crore DRDO-CHESS Collimated Fibre Laser Array requirement. This formulation reflects the procurement record without assigning a final contractual status that has not yet been independently established through a public DRDO award notice.

A Small Contract Value with Larger Technological Importance

At approximately ₹3.7 crore, the financial value of the requirement is modest compared with major missile, aircraft or radar procurements. Its significance lies instead in the technology being developed and the industrial capability being created.

High-power laser systems depend on numerous specialised subsystems that must mature before larger operational weapons can be produced reliably. Laser sources, collimating optics, precision mirrors, beam directors, cooling systems, tracking sensors and high-accuracy opto-mechanical assemblies are all essential parts of that progression.

Programmes such as the CHESS Collimated Fibre Laser Array therefore contribute to the underlying technology base from which more capable directed-energy systems can eventually emerge. They also give Indian companies experience with extremely specialised optical engineering requirements that have applications across defence, aerospace and advanced scientific systems.

Light Guide Optics’ emergence as L1 consequently represents more than the result of an individual ₹3.7-crore tender. It reflects the gradual expansion of India’s domestic industrial capability in high-power lasers and precision defence optics, an area becoming increasingly important as directed-energy weapons move from experimental programmes towards practical counter-drone and air-defence applications.

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