---
title: "NORAD confirms an AeroVironment laser now guards Mar-a-Lago as the stock sits near a 52-week low"
description: "The Secret Service asked for the layer, and the Army has already bought the production run behind it. AeroVironment still trades near a 52-week low, priced for one paused Space Force contract while its counter-drone line compounds orders."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Robotics & Defense"
published: 2026-11-09T14:07:28.692Z
modified: 2026-11-09T14:07:28.692Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/norad-confirms-an-aerovironment-laser-now-guards-mar-a-lago-as-the-stock-sits-near-a-52-week-low
language: en
keywords: "AeroVironment, Defense, Drones, Directed Energy, Stocks"
---

# NORAD confirms an AeroVironment laser now guards Mar-a-Lago as the stock sits near a 52-week low

> The Secret Service asked for the layer, and the Army has already bought the production run behind it. AeroVironment still trades near a 52-week low, priced for one paused Space Force contract while its counter-drone line compounds orders.

A LOCUST counter-drone laser built by [AeroVironment](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/aerovironment) (NASDAQ: AVAV) now guards President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, and the US military has confirmed it [1][2]. Coverage has treated the deployment as a security spectacle; it is better read as a demand signal the market has ignored. The stock closed Friday at $112.76, near a 52-week low [3][6].

The Secret Service requested the layer. NORAD, the joint US-Canada air defense command, and US Northern Command, the military command responsible for defending the US homeland, [confirmed the deployment](https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-914211), and photographs show the laser mounted on a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, an Army light truck, working alongside missile launchers, radar and jammers [1][2][4].

## A $10 shot is why a laser can sit in Palm Beach

LOCUST pairs a turret laser with AI-driven sensors that find, track and engage aerial targets largely on their own, and AeroVironment says a shot costs under $10, against interceptor missiles that cost millions [1][4]. That asymmetry is why this weapon can sit between palm trees in a residential town: a missile intercept rains shrapnel over Palm Beach, and a laser does not [2].

By photo identification, the unit is the 20-kilowatt Army version delivered in late 2025 [2]. Neither the commands nor AeroVironment have confirmed the variant, and the X3 now entering production is the larger 30-kilowatt model [2].

![A Joint Light Tactical Vehicle fitted with the LOCUST high-energy laser counter-drone system](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/626448f3c35d2fee.jpg)

*The first JLTV-mounted LOCUST systems AeroVironment delivered to the Army in late 2025; the Mar-a-Lago unit is identified by photo as this 20-kilowatt version, though neither the commands nor AeroVironment has confirmed the variant. (AeroVironment via Army Recognition)*

## Nine months from a Texas test to domestic airspace

The binding constraint was never the laser; it was permission to fire one at home. A test shot shut El Paso's airspace in February. In April the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pentagon [signed the agreement clearing this laser family for domestic airspace](https://dronexl.co/2026/11/08/mar-a-lago-army-laser-locust-el-paso-airspace-tfr/), and in October the Pentagon picked it for a year-long pilot at US bases [2][4].

The safety case rests on the beam's automatic cutoff, which stopped it at White Sands when an airliner strayed into its track [2]. No agency has said in public whether that agreement covers a laser parked under an approach path, with airliners passing overhead daily [2].

## The taxpayer funds the shield and the arsenal

The taxpayer pays on both ends of this deployment. The Secret Service requested the protective layer, and in September the Army bought the arsenal behind it: about $464.8 million for dozens of the larger X3 systems, [the first US production contract for a high-energy laser weapon](https://theinference.org/article/the-army-s-first-production-laser-pays-aerovironment-464-8-million-and-keeps-the-profit-contestable) [1][2][4]. The line is compounding rather than pausing: days later, AeroVironment took its [first international LOCUST order, worth more than $50 million](https://investor.avinc.com/news-events/press-releases) [5].

## The market prices one paused contract, not the record backlog

Against that ledger, [the stock chart looks disconnected](https://theinference.org/article/aerovironment-is-down-43-despite-a-record-1-5-billion-backlog-and-a-464-8-million-army-laser-win). Last quarter's revenue set a first-quarter record at $480.5 million [5][6]. [The funded backlog hit a record $1.5 billion](https://kalkine.com/news/industrials/aerovironment-nasdaqavav-jumps-10-near-a-52-week-low-as-funded-backlog-hits-record-usd-15-billion), and management reaffirmed full-year guidance [5][6]. Even after Friday's bounce the shares remain down about 69 percent for the year [8].

The selloff runs through one contract: [a paused $1.7 billion Space Force satellite-communications award](https://www.ainvest.com/news/aerovironment-avav-drops-6-42-contract-uncertainty-analyst-downgrade-2611/) tied to BlueHalo, the defense-tech firm whose acquisition closed on May 1, 2025, and roughly doubled AeroVironment's quarterly revenue [7][8][10]. Analysts at investment bank [Raymond James](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/raymond-james-financial) cut the stock to Sell over it [7]. Private money pays up for the other end of the drone market: Zipline, the delivery-drone company, just raised at a $21.5 billion valuation, with private shares that have roughly tripled in a year [8].

*Chart: **Revenue has stayed above $400 million in every quarter since BlueHalo closed** AeroVironment quarterly revenue from the quarter ended October 2023 through the quarter ended August 2026, showing a step up when the BlueHalo acquisition consolidated in the August 2025 quarter and revenue holding above $400 million since*

*Quarterly revenue in USD millions from AeroVironment's SEC filings; BlueHalo closed May 1, 2025, and consolidated from the quarter ended August 2025 [9]*

*Chart: **The paused Space Force award is worth about three times both laser orders combined** Bars comparing three AeroVironment contract and order values: a paused $1.7 billion Space Force satellite-communications award, the $464.8 million Army X3 laser production contract, and a first international LOCUST order worth more than $50 million*

*Award and order values in USD millions; the Space Force satellite-communications award is paused and the international LOCUST order is disclosed as worth more than $50 million. Sources: AInvest, Longbridge, AeroVironment IR, press reports. [1][2][4][5][7][8]*

## The funded backlog decides whether the market priced the wrong story

The deployment is a confirmed fact; follow-on orders are still projection. The chain runs one way: automated targeting and the beam's cutoff earned the safety case, the safety case opened domestic airspace, and domestic airspace just produced the most public customer a counter-drone company could ask for. Watch the funded backlog: if it keeps growing while the Space Force contract stays paused, the market priced the wrong story.

## Takeaway

NORAD and US Northern Command confirmed a LOCUST counter-drone laser now guards Mar-a-Lago, and the Army has already bought the X3 production run behind it. The stock near a 52-week low is priced to one paused Space Force award while funded backlog sits at a record $1.5 billion.

## Sources

1. [The Jerusalem Post, "Trump's Mar-a-Lago protected by laser air-defense system", 8 November 2026](https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-914211)
2. [DroneXL, "Mar-a-Lago Gets the Laser Family Behind El Paso's Airspace Shutdown", 8 November 2026](https://dronexl.co/2026/11/08/mar-a-lago-army-laser-locust-el-paso-airspace-tfr/)
3. [Yahoo Finance, "AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV) latest stock news and headlines", close of 6 November 2026](https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/quote/AVAV/news/)
4. [Gadget Review, "A Laser Weapon Is Now Part of Mar-a-Lago's Air Defense Network", 3 November 2026](https://www.gadgetreview.com/a-laser-weapon-is-now-part-of-mar-a-lagos-air-defense-network)
5. [AeroVironment Investor Relations, "News & Press Releases" (E-HEL Army award, 2 September 2026; first international LOCUST order, 8 September 2026; fiscal Q1 2027 results, 9 September 2026), accessed 9 November 2026](https://investor.avinc.com/news-events/press-releases)
6. [Kalkine, "AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Jumps 10% Near a 52-Week Low as Funded Backlog Hits Record USD 1.5 Billion", 6 November 2026](https://kalkine.com/news/industrials/aerovironment-nasdaqavav-jumps-10-near-a-52-week-low-as-funded-backlog-hits-record-usd-15-billion)
7. [AInvest, "AeroVironment (AVAV) Drops 6.42% on Contract Uncertainty and Analyst Downgrade", November 2026](https://www.ainvest.com/news/aerovironment-avav-drops-6-42-contract-uncertainty-analyst-downgrade-2611/)
8. [Longbridge, "Zipline Private Shares Soar 222% In A Year as AeroVironment Stock Craters 69%", 6 November 2026](https://longbridge.com/en/news/304679011)
9. [AeroVironment, quarterly revenue from its SEC filings, retrieved 9 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001368622)
10. [24/7 Wall St, "AeroVironment (AVAV) Q2 2026 Earnings: Results, Market Reaction & History", 9 December 2025](https://247wallst.com/companies/avav/earnings/2026/Q2)


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NORAD confirms an AeroVironment laser now guards Mar-a-Lago as the stock sits near a 52-week low — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/norad-confirms-an-aerovironment-laser-now-guards-mar-a-lago-as-the-stock-sits-near-a-52-week-low