Depending on several operational factors, directed-energy weapons may be cheaper to operate than conventional weapons in certain contexts. "'[68][69], In East Germany in the 1960s, many people were arrested and interrogated for holding politically incorrect views or for performing actions deemed hostile by the ruling socialist state. Laser light is created when the electrons in atoms in special glasses, crystals, or gases absorb energy from an electrical current or another laser and become excited. The excited electrons move from a lower-energy orbit to a higher-energy orbit around the atoms nucleus. This plan includes a program which aims to test high energy lasers on aircraft against surface to air and air to air missile threats. The power levels are driven by prime power generation limitations, and ERPs depend on the antenna design and aperture (i.e., size).6, Almost everyone has probably experienced the lethality of a microwave device when they inadvertently put a metal object into a kitchen microwave oven and watched the sparks fly. This same energy can be applied at higher powers for weapon effects. However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. Andrew Gudgel, a former Army Warrant Officer, is currently a freelance writer. These data are then passed on to the mirror system, which makes appropriate corrections so that, when the COIL fires, maximum energy is transmitted to the target. The United States will soon be reaching the point where it can generate a megawatt of power in a size, weight, and volume capable of being put on a high-altitude aircraft or space-based platform. It is relatively close to deployment. For example, while the Chinese ZM-87 laser interference device is technically a laser dazzler, it can permanently damage the human eye at a distance of two to three kilometers. Light and repetitive visual signals can induce epileptic seizures. The laser diodes, fiber amplifiers, battery and power management, thermal control, and optical systems are also much more advanced. However, a stronger counterargument is that directed-energy weapons, especially lasers, are more humane than conventional weapons because they can strike pinpoint targets, thus causing less collateral damage. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Raytheon for riot-control duty. The Defense Department and Congress should start to fund promising and proven DEW technology so that promising weapon systems can move from the lab to the battlefield where they can help military personnel. The article states: 'The squawk box is highly directional which gives it its appeal. The two U.S. laser weapons systems closest to actual deployment are the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL) and the Airborne Laser (ABL). A DE weapon is a system using DE primarily as a direct means to disable, damage or destroy adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel. The historian Mary Fulbrook states, "The subsequent serious illnesses and premature deaths of dissidents such as the novelist Jrgen Fuchs, and the author of the critical analysis of 'The Alternative in Eastern Europe', Rudolf Bahro, have been linked by some to the suspicion of exposure to extraordinarily high and sustained levels of X-rays while waiting for interrogations, and being strapped to unpleasant chairs in small prison cells in front of mysterious closed boxes- boxes that, along with their mysterious apparatus, curiously disappeared after the collapse of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) system. umbrella term covering technologies that produce a beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy or atomic or subatomic particles. Between 200005, a prototype chemical laser successfully destroyed 46 rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds in flight during field tests. In addition, controllers can vary the strength of the energy put on a target, unlike a bullet or exploding bomb, allowing for nonlethal uses. ", "Iran starts producing laser weapons for air defense", "Iran achieves Laser Weapon System's deflection technology", "Iran is Producing Laser Air Defense System", "Turkey's laser weapon ARMOL passes acceptance tests", "Janes | Latest defence and security news", "Turkey's laser gun passes acceptance tests", "Is Turkey the first country to shoot down a drone with a laser? Raytheon had marketed a reduced-range version of this technology. High-energy lasers (HEL) can range from a few kilowatts to megawatts of average power. [16] When the microwave energy encounters unshielded wires or electronic components, it induces a current in them, which causes the equipment to malfunction. True support for a program is often best measured by the resources that an organization is willing to devote to it. It suggested that lasers, perhaps space-based X-ray lasers, could destroy ICBMs in flight. These weapons were considered for both land and space-based systems. In the case of directed energy weapons, there has been significant risk reduction which has been accomplished over several decades. This revolution changed the nature of warfare: not just tactics, but also the usefulness of armor, castles, and then-popular weapons. The DOD Office of Force Transformation (OFT), in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory, is developing the Tactical Relay Mirror System (TRMS), which would use a mirror system mounted on an aerostat or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to redirect the beams from laser weapons such as the ATL and ABL. The mysterious neurological symptoms experienced by American diplomats in China and Cuba are consistent with the effects of directed microwave energy, according to a long-awaited report by the. HPM weapons lethality is typically described in terms of their ability to deny, degrade, damage or destroy a targets capabilities. The number of "shots" a laser weapon can produce is limited only by its power supply. But with laser weapons, instead of thinking in terms of a laser pointer, the mental image should be more like a powerful, long-range blowtorch! . National Defense University Building a Stryker with a 50kW laser is a follow-on to the 5kW laser the Army tested on the vehicle just a year ago in Germany at the Joint Warfighting Assessment and related efforts. However, no military has yet openly deployed HPM weapons. (Invented by Max Steenbeck at Siemens-Schuckert in the 1930s, these were later called Betatrons by the Americans.) The destructive power of directed energy weapons (their lethality) derives from the amount of energy transferred to the target over time. Depending on the type of laser, this means that the weapon can have an almost "endless magazine" of laser bursts. [86], Also, "directed-energy weapons that target the central nervous system and cause neurophysiological disorders may violate the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980. This laser would be megawatt class and have a range of hundreds of miles. Like lasers, HPM weapons can operate in a pulsed or continuous manner and are classified using peak or average power respectively. There is no injury to the target individual. Because of its coherence, laser light can stay concentrated for very long distanceseven thousands of miles into space. [citation needed]. Current HPM research focuses on pulsed power devices, which create intense, ultrashort bursts of electrical energy and would be used to power the microwave generator of an HPM weapon. In 1999, the modern German state was investigating the possibility that this X-ray equipment was being used as weaponry and that it was a deliberate policy of the Stasi to attempt to give prisoners radiation poisoning, and thereby cancer, through the use of directed X-rays. The countries abandoned particle-beam weapon research as impracticable. Since these weapons maneuver, the United States needs to be able to precisely track the hypersonic missile throughout its entire flight or birth to death. The only cost-effective way to accomplish this is using space-based satellites. A laser weapon could target not only a single vehicle in a convoy, but also a specific spot on that vehicle (e.g., the engine) and disable it without injuring the passengers. DEWs use the electromagnetic spectrum (light and radio energy) to attack pinpoint targets at the speed of light. A subset of HPM devices can affect the human body. [9], The ABL is a system that uses a megawatt chemical laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747 to shoot down theater ballistic missiles. A microwave weapon can achieve this result by causing malfunctions within certain relay and processing circuits within the enemy target system. High-power microwave (HPM) weapons work by producing either beams or short bursts of high-frequency radio energy. [42][43][44], The effective radiated power (ERP) of the EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar makes it a hypothetical candidate for conversion into a directed-energy weapon, by focusing pulses of radar energy on target missiles. [24] Would the permanent blinding of a soldier struck by a ZM-87's laser beam be considered intentional or accidental? Examples of this capability include signal overrides or insertion, power cycling (turning power on and off at irregular intervals) and causing the system to lock-up. These effects are not permanent because the target system will return to normal operation within a specified time, which obviously varies according to the weapon. What are the challenges and next steps? [49] Challenges remain in terms of the size, weight and power input requirements of todays laser systems, especially in the thermal control and power management subsystems. Laser dazzlers-devices that use laser light to temporarily blind sensors, optics, and personnel- are already available for law enforcement and military use. In the Star Wars movies, a wide variety of directed energy weapons are depicted, from handheld light sabers to massive, spaceship-mounted laser cannons. In addition, a technique known as adaptive optics has been developed for many years. PRISM. . The system generates a focused beam of energy at the frequency of 95 gigahertz. Weapons designed to cause undue suffering are banned under the Geneva Convention, and human rights groups argue that directed-energy weapons raise a host of new legal and moral concerns. In practice, the weapon was highly vulnerable to enemy fire. The full system will be fitted to the aircraft by 2007 and test-fired against ground targets. Neuro-weapons can take the form of biological agents, chemical weapons and in the Havana case directed energy, and possibly a combination of different methods, Giordano said. The United States has the technology, the resources, the talent, and the infrastructure to develop and deploy directed energy weapons to meet todays and tomorrows emerging threats. The power output necessary for a weapons-grade laser ranges from 10 kilowatts to 1 megawatt. 019, available at < https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Interactive/2018/11-2019-Missile-Defense-Review/The%202019%20MDR_Executive%20Summary.pdf>. They seemed to have arisen from the testing of the television transmitter in Feldberg, Germany. A methane gas combustion chamber leading to two parabolic dishes pulse-detonated at roughly 44 Hz. [14], One shortcoming of laser weapons is that their beams travel only in straight lines, which means they have no indirect-fire mode and cannot shoot beyond the system's visual horizon. Directed-energy weapons can be used discreetly; radiation does not generate sound and is invisible if outside the visible spectrum. Another power source, well-suited to one-time use in an e-bomb, is the Explosively Pumped Flux Compression Generator (EPFCG). Directional sound. And of course, lasers employed at higher altitudes or in space would have very little to no atmospheric affects. In 1935, the British Air Ministry asked Robert Watson-Watt of the Radio Research Station whether a "death ray" was possible. Examples of this cited earlier included the Airborne Laser, the Navys LaWS program, and others. Army Successfully Demos Laser Weapon Stryker in Germany, DefenseNews.com, March 21, 2018, available at < https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/03/21/us-army-successfully-demos-laser-weapon-on-stryker-in-europe/>. This damage may create permanent effects depending upon the severity of the attack and the ability of the enemy to diagnose, replace, or repair the affected systems. The United States has come a very long way in the development of directed energy weapon capabilities and is now at a critical juncture. [1] They may begin to appear on the battlefield within the next decade, bringing a revolution in weapons and how war is waged. In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. As DOD works to develop and incorporate these technologies, much of the work should be collaborative, such as improvements in materials, power generation, thermal control, etc. Development of the THEL began in 1996 as a joint program between the United States and Israel to develop a laser system capable of shooting down Katyusha rockets, artillery, and mortar shells. This capability would be very useful at checkpoints or for stopping escaping vehicles. Fiber lasers are lasers in which the active medium being used is an optical fiber that has been doped in rare elements, most often Erbium.3 Slab lasers represent one class of high-power solid-state lasers in which the laser crystal has the form of a slab.4 Hybrid lasers such as a diode pumped alkali laser use a combination of trace gas with semiconductor diode arrays for even higher power and efficiency.5. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. Consider that today the United States will launch kinetic interceptors at an incoming threat warhead that cost tens of millions of dollars and multiple interceptors are fired for maximum probability of success. [48], Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project, A laser weapon is a directed-energy weapon based on lasers.[50]. Developing hypersonic interceptors will also be an option in the U.S. defense architecture. If the microwave energy travels through the targets own antenna, dome, or other sensor opening, then this pathway is commonly referred to as the front door.7 On the other hand, if the microwave emissions travel through cracks, seams, trailing wires, metal conduits, or seals of the target, then this pathway is called the back door.8. While DEWs are not the solution to all combat situations, these technologies would provide the U.S. military with additional flexibility in tailoring its response to different types of threats. [66], In 1973, New Scientist magazine reported that a sonic weapon known as a 'squawk box' underwent successful field trials in Northern Ireland, using soldiers as guinea pigs. What if the United States could deploy effective anti-missile lasers on its aircraft to defeat any missile(s) fired at them? [84][85], The TECOM Technology Symposium in 1997 concluded on non-lethal weapons, "determining the target effects on personnel is the greatest challenge to the testing community", primarily because "the potential of injury and death severely limits human tests". Most HPM systems are based on short pulses of radiofrequency (RF) energy, for which peak power is the important metric. 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at
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