A two-year Czech-Japanese collaborative project MIRA has been succesfully launched. HiLASE Centre, Crytur s.r.o., and Gigaphoton Inc. will jointly develop an advanced high-power pulsed laser amplifier working in the mid-infrared spectral range (1.48 um). The goal of the consortium is to build a compact laser that will finally serve as a crucial sub-component of a new generation of Gigaphoton litographic machines for mass-production of novel NAND chips. The NAND technology will bring benefits to the Internet of Things (IOT), smart appliances, and automation.