A coherent laser receiver for receiving encoded light which may have propagated over an aberrated path, situated between a source of the encoded light and the coherent receiver. The coherent laser receiver comprises a bundle of optical fibers arranged in an array to receive light, as encoded from a distant optical transmitter or reflective surface, the encoded light from the distant optical transmitter or reflective surface is received by at least a majority of the fibers in the array. A plurality of light amplifiers is provided for amplifying the received encoded light. A control apparatus coherently combines a composite output of the bundle of optical fibers, the control apparatus includes at least one detector for detecting the a portion of the received encoded light, an output of the at least one detector being utilized to control the plurality of light amplifiers so that differential phases among individual fibers associated with said at least one detector in the bundle are minimized by said light amplifiers. A coherent detector is responsive to the composite output of the bundle for providing an output signal representative of the encoded information from the source.