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. In this case, the laser weapon system would sense the atmospheric conditions to the target, then using fast steering mirrors, it would deform the main laser beam as it leaves the weapon to use the atmosphere to the target much like the lens of a pair of glasses to refocus the beam on the target. These waves penetrate only a few millimeters into the skin and cause the sensation of heat. This plan includes a program which aims to test high energy lasers on aircraft against surface to air and air to air missile threats. Electrical blooming occurs only in charged particle beams, as ions of like charge repel one another. [4] Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. PRISM Vol. [1] They may begin to appear on the battlefield within the next decade, bringing a revolution in weapons and how war is waged. Rifle, bazooka and mortar rounds easily deformed the parabolic reflectors, rendering the wave amplification ineffective.[64]. They have been used on several occasions to repel pirate attacks by sending warnings and by producing intolerable levels of sound. Directed energy weapons could have several main advantages over conventional weaponry: Some devices are described as microwave weapons; the microwave range is commonly defined as being between 300MHz and 300GHz (wavelengths of 1 meter to 1 millimeter), which is within the radiofrequency (RF) range. HPM weapons have also been considered for use as nonlethal "heat ray" systems for crowd control. [19]GlobalSecurity.org, "High Power Microwave (HPM)/E-Bomb," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/hpm.htm (March 15, 2006). They were seen as tools for destroying ICBMs and drones, or for dispersing rioters. The countries abandoned particle-beam weapon research as impracticable.[3]. The military has rhetorically embraced the wonders of DEWs, but it has not always opened its wallet to fund the technologies. Directed energy weapons could also play a key role in defending against what has been described as the number one threat to the United States by the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Dr. Mike Griffinhypersonic weapons. 2 According to the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. - The Navy continues to learn more about a pair of directed energy weapons, as the service installs the fourth and fifth dazzler system this year and begins land-based testing of . This laser uses rings of magnetically confined electrons whirling at the speed of light to produce laser beams that can be tuned up and down the electromagnetic spectrum from microwaves to ultraviolet light.[4]. However, current research focuses on using them as a means of nonlethal area defense and as anti-electronic weapons rather than as "death rays.". Paired with a microwave generator, an EPFCG could produce an ultrashort, intense microwave burst. Today, solid state electrical (including fiber) and hybrid lasers are being developed that are much lighter and smaller. 00:38. DEWs send energy, instead of matter, toward a target, and can be separated into three types: laser weapons, particle-beam weapons, and high-power microwave (HPM) or ra-dio-frequency (RF) weapons. 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 that do not apply to previous generations of conventional weapons. Even the most conservative market projections for directed energy weapons indicate nearly $30 billion being spent by the United States during the next ten years. A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy, including laser, microwaves and particle [5]Suzann Chapman, "The Airborne Laser," Air Force Magazine, Vol. There is no injury to the target individual. Depending on the type of laser, this means that the weapon can have an almost "endless magazine" of laser bursts. The idea of damage is to inflict moderate injury on enemy communications facilities, weapons systems, and subsystems hardware, and to do so in order to incapacitate the enemy for a certain time. 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. 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. Much work needs to be done before DEWs are deployed. This directed energy technology was designed for nonlethal control of crowds. As the Pentagon addresses these issues, it should do so in the same way that it would for any other category of weapon that it has reviewed. One problem that affects laser beam strength is a phenomenon known as "blooming," which occurs when the laser beam heats the atmosphere through which it is passing, turning the air into plasma. 13 Todd South, Soldiers in Europe are now Using Lasers to Shoot Down Drones, ArmyTimes.com, February 8, 2018, available at < https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/02/28/soldiers-in-europe-are-now-using-lasers-to-shoot-down-drones/>. [6], Because they were invented several decades ago, lasers are the most mature of the DEW technologies. While centuries of technological advances have improved the power of these materials, the basic operating principle of chemical-powered weapons ultimately remains the same. This produces a burning pain without actually damaging the tissue. For example, the static and distortion that high voltage power lines have on a car radio causes no lasting damage to the radio after the car leaves the area. And of course, lasers employed at higher altitudes or in space would have very little to no atmospheric affects. 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. However, no military has yet openly deployed HPM weapons. HPM weapon technology is based on the same technology as radar devices, which already have a long history of research and development. Depending on factors such as burst height, microwave frequency, and the shielding around the target electronics, such an e-bomb could have an effective range of several hundred meters. Other members of a crowd are unaffected, except by panic when they see people fainting, being sick, or running from the scene with their hands over their ears. [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". High-power microwave (HPM) weapons work by producing either beams or short bursts of high-frequency radio energy. Though intended to cause severe pain while leaving no lasting damage, concern has been voiced as to whether the system could cause irreversible damage to the eyes. In addition, the Air Force has partnered with the Navy in the development of a high-power RF weapon called High-power Joint Electromagnetic Non-Kinetic Strike (HiJENKS) capable of attacking electronics, communications and computer networks. Directed energy weapons are among the high-tech arms of the century. In the next several years, the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force all plan to develop and field these weapons at an increasing pace. The technology is maturing rapidly, threats are emerging which directed energy can almost uniquely address, and the warfighters are signaling their support. The Air Force also recently demonstrated the ability of an HPM weapon to bring down multiple drones in testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, according to a recent Military.com article: After decades of research and investment, we believe these advanced directed-energy applications will soon be ready for the battlefield to help protect people, assets and infrastructure. Thomas Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president, said in a news release accompanying the announcement. The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. In this manner someone could be debilitated even though they were no longer imprisoned. Discrete, mission-aligned efforts will maintain our pace of development in the race to get these technologies to the field. At the speeds that these hypersonic missiles fly, they have vulnerabilities which could be exploited by directed energy weapons. Think of the difference between a laser pointer and a flashlight. The laser light is coherent in a single color, and the flashlight is broad-spectrum light. 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. [24]China North Industries Corporation, "ZM-87 Portable Laser Disturber Fact Sheet," quoted in Human Rights Watch, "Blinding Laser Weapons: The Need to Ban a Cruel and Inhumane Weapon," September 1995, at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/General1.htm (March 15, 2006). DEW technology and its enabling infrastructure have matured to the point that DEWs can begin moving from the lab to the battlefield. Reversing the order of events in retelling the story created a "tale" where tourists car engine stopped first and then were approached by a German soldier who told them that they had to wait. [54] They range in size from small, portable handheld units which can be strapped to a person's chest, to larger models which require a mount. 10 Department of Defense, The National Defense Strategy 2018 (Washington D.C.: Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2018). This type of weapon shows great potential as a riot-control device or area-denial system. 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