ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller joined officials from Boeing Friday morning to cut the ribbon on a newly expanded compact laser manufacturer facility.

“Albuquerque is the national leader in these kinds of system developments around directed energy,” Keller said.

Ron Dauk with Boeing is the site manager, and he said the expansion means more laser technology can be built here for the country’s national security.

“Our facility has been here since 2000,” Dauk said. “So, we’ve been excited to move and expand. And actually, this has been part of multiple expansions for us. And this latest 27,000 square feet is really about manufacturing, and getting ready to build multiples of these systems as what we’re excited about.”

This facility specializes in anti-drone technology, giving the military the most advanced ways to fight unmanned enemies.

‘”This is what we call our mobile compact laser weapon system. This is a complete laser weapon system to address what we call the small counter, unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. And you can see one of the small quadcopters that’s on here,” he said.

He added these products have already proven themselves on the world stage.

“We’ve had systems deployed with the Marine Corps, we had five systems deployed overseas for four years and they did outstanding work and defending our soldiers,” Dauk said.

The expansion means more high-paying jobs too. Boeing officials said they are hiring up to 40 new engineers and scientists.  

Dauk said Boeing is going into 2024 with a laser focus.

“We’re investing in this facility, as we said, around $5 million has gone into this facility over the last few years. And we’re looking to do close to $100 million in revenue this year alone, as we move forward, and we’re looking to grow that.”

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