HPM weapons have also been considered for use as nonlethal "heat ray" systems for crowd control. , 2019, available at . For example, a recent test of a solid-state laser by Northrop Grumman produced a continuous 27-kilowatt beam that lasted just under six minutes. Because of the strategic imperative to protect U.S. carrier battlegroups to enable us to project power, the U.S. Navy is following this prototyping effort with a much broader Navy Laser Family of Systems or NLFoS program, which will put the Navy on a path to develop and deploy lasers ranging from low power laser dazzlers to much higher power lasers capable of destroying anti-ship and high-speed cruise missiles. General DOD policy is that directed-energy weapons can be used legitimately on the battlefield. 15 Office of the Secretary of Defense, Missile Defense Review, January 2019, available at < https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Interactive/2018/11-2019-Missile-Defense-Review/The%202019%20MDR_Executive%20Summary.pdf>. The THEL system uses radar to detect and track incoming targets. [8], In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. What if the United States could deploy effective anti-missile lasers on its aircraft to defeat any missile(s) fired at them? National Defense University DEW technology is changing faster than international laws and treaties can adapt. 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. Finally, the concept of destroy involves the ability to inflict catastrophic and permanent injury on the enemy functions and systems. A year later, testing showed that the ADS could produce effects at ranges beyond current small-arms range. A possible future development is the electrolaser. Discrete, mission-aligned efforts will maintain our pace of development in the race to get these technologies to the field. DefenseNews in their coverage of the March 2018 Booz Allen Hamilton/CSBA Directed Energy Summit in Washington highlighted the remark by Colonel Dennis Wille, the Army G3 strategic program chief for U.S. Army Europe, that over the weekend the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (supported by the 7th Army Training Command and the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Oklahoma) had conducted a live-fire engagement of the 5kW Mobile Expeditionary High-Energy Laser demonstrator at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. Vection and motion sickness can also occur. However, no military has yet openly deployed HPM weapons. Developing hypersonic interceptors will also be an option in the U.S. defense architecture. While DEWs are not a panacea, the armed services should fully support research and development of these useful technologies. [65], The Central Intelligence Agency informed Secretary Henry Kissinger that it had twelve reports of Soviet forces using laser weapons against Chinese forces during the 1969 Sino-Soviet border clashes, though William Colby doubted that they had actually been employed. In 1935, the British Air Ministry asked Robert Watson-Watt of the Radio Research Station whether a "death ray" was possible. But let us broaden these applications somewhat. 1, Air War College Center for Strategy and Technology, May 2000. It was a psychological warfare method which could involve the group based and systematic gaslighting of targets, among other things. This directed energy technology was designed for nonlethal control of crowds. Like lasers, particle beams travel at the speed of light, but unlike lasers, the particles in a particle beam have mass, giving the beam tremendous kinetic energy. According to DOD's Joint Publication 3-13 Electronic Warfare, directed energy (DE) is described as an; umbrella term covering technologies that produce a beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy or atomic or subatomic particles. For example, lasers can cut through steel, aluminum, and many other materials in a matter of seconds. Another revolution in weaponry is currently underway, with directed-energy weapons on the cusp of replacing chemical-powered weapons on the battlefield. 7 David M. Sowders et al., High Power Microwave (HPM) and Ultrawideband (UWB): A Primer on High Power RF, PL-TR-95-1111, Special Report, Phillips Laboratory, March 1996, 76. can affect a lasers performance but there are ways to address these phenomena. In addition, controllers can vary the strength of the energy put on a target, unlike a bullet or exploding bomb, allowing for nonlethal uses. It is relatively close to deployment. Building on the Armys DE efforts during the past 5 to 7 years, the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) is committed to fielding 50kW lasers on four Strykers (eight wheeled armored fighting vehicles), delivering a residual combat capability at the Platoon level as part of the M-SHORAD mission in support of a Brigade Combat Team. The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is an acoustic hailing device developed by Genasys (formerly LRAD Corporation) to send messages and warning tones over longer distances or at higher volume than normal loudspeakers, and as a non-lethal directed-acoustic-energy weapon. [79][80] At the time, the Soviet Union was concerned that the shuttle was being used as a reconnaissance platform. So how close are they to becoming weaponized? These photons are all at the same wavelength and are coherent, meaning the crests and troughs of the light waves are all in lockstep. The SOR's world-class adaptive optics telescope is the second largest telescope in the Department of Defense. A demonstration system was tested at Kirtland Air Force Base in 2000. For example, a recent test of a solid-state laser by Northrop Grumman produced a continuous 27-kilowatt beam that lasted just under six minutes.[23]. This capability would be very useful at checkpoints or for stopping escaping vehicles. The death ray of science fiction may in fact become a reality in the not too distant future. One of the most promising laser devices is the free-electron laser. The Rheotron was captured by the Americans in Burggrub on April 14, 1945. Millimeter waveband energy can penetrate human skin to a very shallow depth, heating the tissue below. For ex. Lasers are becoming smaller and more powerful. [49], Both Russia and Ukraine are reported to use these devices during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Laser dazzlers-devices that use laser light to temporarily blind sensors, optics, and personnel- are already available for law enforcement and military use. He has pressed for the development of hypersonic weapons by the United States as well as a defense against them. [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). According to the manufacturer's specifications, the systems weigh from 15 to 320 pounds (6.8 to 145.1kg) and can emit sound in a 30- 60 beam at 2.5kHz. High-energy lasers (HEL) can range from a few kilowatts to megawatts of average power. One of the most promising laser devices is the free-electron laser. Retrieved 2010-01-04. The kinetic energy imparted by a particle stream destroys the target by heating the target's atoms to the point that the material literally explodes. ", "Defence IQ talks to Dr Palek about Directed Energy Weapon systems", "US Navy Laser Weapon Fires At $1 Per Shot", "Israel tests improved Arrow interceptor", "Defense News - Russian army confirms use of Stupor anti-drone rifle in Ukraine", "Russia Uses Stupor Technology To Ward Off Ukrainian Drone Attacks", "Russia is developing laser, electromagnetic and plasma weapons", "Applications LRAD Corporation website", "How to Dodge the Sonic Weapon Used by Police", Directed-Energy Weapons: No Longer Science Fiction, "Robert Watson-Watt: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland", "How the search for a 'death ray' led to radar", "Robert Watson-Watt biography - Science Hall of Fame - National Library of Scotland", "Forschungssttte fr Hitlers "Todesstrahlen", Reports of Use of Laser Weapons By The Soviets Against the Chinese, "How dangerous is the Army's squawk box? However, British scientists calculated that the electronic systems of the time could not generate the power necessary for a "death ray," and research was redirected into early radar detection systems. 79, No. Laser beams also lose energy through absorption or scattering if fired through dust, smoke, or rain. 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/>. 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. 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. On land, this includes base defense, where DE can provide a deep magazine, long-range engagement, and low cost-per-shot against proliferated threats. These waves penetrate only a few millimeters into the skin and cause the sensation of heat. The Defense Department needs to establish clear guidelines for using the technology. Paired with a microwave generator, an EPFCG could produce an ultrashort, intense microwave burst. 15-31. Directed energy weapons, such as lasers and microwaves, had enjoyed an exotic aura. The Beacon Illuminator Laser system, which measures and corrects for atmospheric distortion, has also been shipped to Boeing for testing. While some uses may be illegal (e.g., targeting an unarmed civilian who in no way poses a threat), other uses are just as assuredly legal and legitimate. At some point in the future, entire military units may be armed with only DEWs. Directed energy weapon could be responsible for auditory hallucinations, brain injuries. . But by far, the most ambitious program underway in DOD is being led by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). In an electrolaser, twin laser beams create an ionized channel inside the atmosphere, which conducts electricity. 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. [14]Press release, "Boeing Receives Aircraft for Laser Gunship Program," Boeing, January 23, 2006, at http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2006/q1/060123a_nr.html (March 15, 2006). The EPFCG uses chemical explosives to compress an electrically charged coil. 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. Millimeter waveband energy can penetrate human skin to a very shallow depth, heating the tissue below. Richert Seifert & Co from Hamburg delivered parts. [17]Dr. Stephen Adams, "Electrical Power and Thermal Management for Airborne Directed Energy Weapons," U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, September 2001, at http://www.afrlhorizons.com/Briefs/Sept01/PR0101.html (March 15, 2006). However, current research focuses on using them as a means of nonlethal area defense and as anti-electronic weapons rather than as "death rays.". The laser is being built and will be tested in mid-2006. (Invented by Max Steenbeck at Siemens-Schuckert in the 1930s, these were later called Betatrons by the Americans.) How can they be used and how disruptive can they be? For example, the MDR proposes that the Missile Defense Agency study the potential to develop and field space-based lasers to intercept ballistic missiles.15. The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. When the LaWS was being integrated onto the ship, the designers and developers envisioned that it would be used several hours a day. Light is, for practical purposes, unaffected by, Lasers travel at light-speed and have long range, making them suitable for use in. They will be deployed on land vehicles, aircraft, helicopters, and ships. The United States has come a very long way in the development of directed energy weapon capabilities and is now at a critical juncture. Today, Directed Energy weapons are being developed by the US and its adversaries for land, sea, and air and space applications. The Pentagon believes that DEWs are legal under international law, but human rights groups are arguing that DEWs could be used inhumanely. The system consists of several modules: an infrared detection system to detect the missile's launch; the Tracking Illumination Laser (TILL); the Beacon Illuminator Laser (BILL); and the Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL). Directed energy system is further defined by the STOA document: "Directed energy weapon system designed to match radio frequency source to interfere with human brain activity at synapse level" (at the bottom of the page, first reference, Appendix 6-67). [6], Because they were invented several decades ago, lasers are the most mature of the DEW technologies. The term deny is defined as the ability to eliminate the enemys ability to operate without inflicting harm on the system. However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. Though the strategic missile defense concept has continued to the present under the Missile Defense Agency, most of the directed-energy weapon concepts were shelved. In addition, a technique known as adaptive optics has been developed for many years. Space-based lasers would have a profound impact on the U.S. ability to defend and if necessary, fight in space. "Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program," Defense Update, at http://www.defense-update.com/directory/THEL.htm (March 10, 2006). For example, as mentioned earlier, directed energy weapons development can take advantage of progress being made in commercial industry around processors, power generation and management and even lasers subsystems themselves. Both the Allies and the Axis powers conducted basic research and studies into primitive directed-energy weapons before World War II. 00:38. In contrast, ordinary visible light comprises multiple wavelengths and is not coherent. For fictional uses, see, "DEW" redirects here. In addition, while you are firing on one power source, you can be charging another for near continuous operation. 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. - 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 . 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. The Symptoms of Being Attacked by Directed Energy Weapons DEW symptoms: Causes headaches, intense psychological and physiological stress in that you can feel all your insides. This produces a burning pain without actually damaging the tissue. In 1995, the Chinese military marketed the ZM-87 laser interference device, a tripod-mounted battlefield laser dazzler designed to blind enemy soldiers and optics temporarily. The Armys Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is now asked to make DE technology available to the warfighters as quickly as possible. The destructive power of directed energy weapons (their lethality) derives from the amount of energy transferred to the target over time. ), is an Executive Vice President and Directed Energy Lead at Booz Allen Hamilton and the former Director of the Missile Defense Agency. Research was also conducted on a mobile version of the THEL called the MTEL. This concentrated energy can have effects across the entire spectrum from non-lethal to lethal. This produces a burning pain without actually damaging the tissue. The Beacon Illuminator Laser system, which measures and corrects for atmospheric distortion, has also been shipped to Boeing for testing. For continuous wave systems, which use high average power to effect targets, levels are typically from 50 to 100s of kilowatts up to several megawatts of power. [26] Most DEWs are not yet far enough along in development and thus have not received this final stamp of approval. Directed energy microwave weapons convert energy from a power source - a wall plug in a lab or the engine on a military vehicle - into radiated electromagnetic energy and focus it on a target . Thus, the deny capability is not permanent because the affected systems can be easily restored to their previous operational condition. DEW technology is changing faster than international laws and treaties can adapt. [25]"Electromagnetic Weapons: Come Fry with Me," The Economist, January 30, 2003, at http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030130-ebomb01.htm (March 15, 2006). High-power microwave (HPM) weapons work by producing either beams or short bursts of high-frequency radio energy. At the speeds that these hypersonic missiles fly, they have vulnerabilities which could be exploited by directed energy weapons. While they are both part of the electromagnetic spectrum, laser and microwave weapons operate very differently and have very different effects. They are not "weapons of mass destruction," but they have the potential to . Lung tissue was affected at only the closest ranges as atmospheric air is highly compressible and only the blood rich alveoli resist compression. However, as with the development of any unprecedented military capability, there are risks, challenges and limitations involving their cost, schedule and performance. 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at . They have strong physical and psychological effects and can be used for military and terrorist activities. 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. High-power microwave (HPM) and high-power millimeter wave weapons emit beams of electromagnetic energy typically from about 10 megahertz to the 100 gigahertz frequency range. [2]David E. Fisher, A Race on the Edge of Time: Radar-The Decisive Weapon of WWII (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988), pp. The meaning of degrade is to remove the enemys ability to operate and to potentially inflict minimal injury on electronic hardware systems. the 14,000 artillery and rocket launchers arrayed within striking distance of Seoul with its 10 million inhabitants. These weapons were considered for both land and space-based systems. However, the first working laser was not built until 1960, opening an entirely new avenue of directed-energy research. 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