Citing decreased defense spending, Applied Energetics Inc. said it is suspending most of its government work to focus on making lasers for industrial applications. Revenue from contracts with government agencies or contractors represented approximately 90 percent and 97 percent of total revenue for 2011 and 2010, respectively, the company said in a regulatory filing. The lasers, electronics and optics provider recently posted a loss of $6.5 million, or 7 cents a share, for fiscal year 2011, more than double 2010's $3.2 million loss. Applied Energetics reported that its revenue decreased more than 60 percent — from $13 million to $5 million — between 2010 and 2011. The bulk of the decline, nearly $7 million, was in revenue for the company's counter-improvised explosive device (counter-IED) program, which slid to $2.2. It attributed the decline to a contract completion in the first half of 2011. "We are not investing company funds or resources to further develop and enhance our LGE (laser-guided energy), LIPC (laser-induced plasma channel), counter-IED and high-voltage technologies and systems," the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. "Over the past two years our efforts have increasingly focused on applications of our technologies for commercial products and markets." "Our focus will be primarily on advancing our solid-state USP lasers for commercial applications," particularly micromachining, said Applied Energetics President Joe Hayden in a statement. The company is partnering with Laser Light Technologies Inc. of Hermann, Mo., to jointly develop USP lasers and processes for that market. The company has cut expenses by, among other things, significantly reducing its staff, which numbered 83 at the end of 2006. As of March 30, 2012, Applied Energetics had 25 full-time employees, it told the SEC. It also is considering mergers, the acquisition of one or more businesses or technology, and the disposition of one or more of its existing businesses. For more information, visit: www.appliedenergetics.com