Laser beams also lose energy through absorption or scattering if fired through dust, smoke, or rain. [61][62], Stories in the 1930s and World War Two gave rise to the idea of an "engine-stopping ray". In the late Middle Ages, a revolution in the weaponry occurred when chemical-powered (gunpowder) weapons began to replace swords and bows. Energy that would otherwise be focused on the target spreads out and the beam becomes less effective: Plasma weapons fire a beam, bolt, or stream of plasma, which is an excited state of matter consisting of atomic electrons & nuclei and free electrons if ionized, or other particles if pinched. In recent years the U.S. Navy deployed a 30kW class solid state laser weapon system (LaWS) prototype on the Afloat Forward Staging Base, USS Ponce. 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! What exactly is a directed energy weapon? It has been claimed that the USSR made use of the lasers at the Terra-3 site to target the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984. They are also used on ships as an anti-piracy measure. HPM weapons lethality is typically described in terms of their ability to deny, degrade, damage or destroy a targets capabilities. The Army used Navy-, and Air Force- developed HPM weapons during recent conflicts to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Space-based high energy lasers could be brought to bear especially in the boost/ascent phase of boost glide hypersonic missiles where a high-energy laser could destroy the vehicle early in its trajectory. '[67] The British Ministry of Defence denied the existence of such a device. The laser is being built and will be tested in mid-2006. In practice, the weapon was highly vulnerable to enemy fire. [48] Various morally flexible, highly educated professionals provide their services to the states most probably lured by utilitarian gains and acting not only against the law, but against any moral value, their Ippocratical oath and other professional ethics. 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. , 2018, available at < https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/02/28/soldiers-in-europe-are-now-using-lasers-to-shoot-down-drones/>. The technology is maturing rapidly, threats are emerging which directed energy can almost uniquely address, and the warfighters are signaling their support. X-ray lasers may be possible in the not too distant future. So, for a hypersonic weapon that is travelling at 25 times the speed of sound, a high- energy laser can engage it at roughly 35,000 times its speed. [2], During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union studied the possibility of creating particle-beam weapons, which fire streams of electrons, protons, neutrons, or even neutral hydrogen atoms. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Raytheon for riot-control duty. At 200 yards away, body temperature increases from the normal 98.6 F to 107 F. At closer range, the temperature increase can be even higher, and is lethal. This destroys the device but produces electrical pulses in the terawatt range-the equivalent of 10 to 1,000 lightning strikes. For example, when deployed, the anti-ballistic missile Airborne Laser will cost approximately $1,000 per shot. [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). Directed-energy weapons can be used discreetly; radiation does not generate sound and is invisible if outside the visible spectrum. 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. 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. So hypersonic kinetic interceptors would have to be capable of achieving speeds of Mach 15 and higher. In 2010, the Airborne Laser shot down two missiles (both solid and liquid propelled) in their boost phase during flight testing which demonstrated the lethality of the laser against missile targets. 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 Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal directed-energy weapon developed by the U.S. military, designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control. First up is the Multi-Mission High Energy Laser, a 50-killowatt retrofit to a modified Stryker vehicle, which is expected to be operational in 2023. DEWs use the electromagnetic spectrum (light and radio energy) to attack pinpoint targets at the speed of light. [4] Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. The SOR's world-class adaptive optics telescope is the second largest telescope in the Department of Defense. 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. Richert Seifert & Co from Hamburg delivered parts. 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/>. They are not the answer to all the challenges, and will not replace kinetic weapons, but they are an essential adjunct to countering specific threats and providing dominance in land, air, sea, and space. They are not "weapons of mass destruction," but they have the potential to . The United States must realize that it has to resource the development and fielding of these capabilities. [20], The Active Denial System (ADS) is a nonlethal anti-personnel DEW that uses millimeter-wavelength beams to create a painful sensation in an individual without causing actual injury. 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. Rifle, bazooka and mortar rounds easily deformed the parabolic reflectors, rendering the wave amplification ineffective.[64]. According to a legend, Archimedes created a mirror with an adjustable focal length (or more likely, a series of mirrors focused on a common point) to focus sunlight on ships of the Roman fleet as they invaded Syracuse, setting them on fire. These lasers, combined with significant improvements in computational power, represent dramatic advances in technology over those used in the Airborne Laser program. There are reports that the Terra-3 complex at Sary Shagan was used on several occasions to temporarily "blind" US spy satellites in the IR range. Millimeter waveband energy can penetrate human skin to a very shallow depth, heating the tissue below. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. ", "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? Lung tissue was affected at only the closest ranges as atmospheric air is highly compressible and only the blood rich alveoli resist compression. It stated that it did have, however, an 'ultra-loud public address system which [] could be "used for verbal communication over two miles, or put out a sustained or modulated sound blanket to make conversation, and thus crowd organisation, impossible. 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. The Sodium Guidestar at the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate's Starfire Optical Range. In addition to being able to scale effects on a target, directed energy weapons have inherent attributes that are attractive to the warfighter. Research was also conducted on a mobile version of the THEL called the MTEL. 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. A14.5 kHz E V2K 28-Dec-8927-Oct-92Oliver M. LoweryOliver M. LoweryPresents subliminal auditory information to the human via remotely applied waves US 5356368 A4-212 Hz MK 1-Mar-9118-Oct-94Robert A. MonroeInterstate Industries Inc. (dba Monroe Products)Method of and apparatus for inducing . 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. 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. Developing hypersonic interceptors will also be an option in the U.S. defense architecture. "Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program," Defense Update, at http://www.defense-update.com/directory/THEL.htm (March 10, 2006). 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. Lasers are becoming smaller and more powerful. In 1935, the British Air Ministry asked Robert Watson-Watt of the Radio Research Station whether a "death ray" was possible. 4 Slab Lasers, RP Photonics Encyclopedia website, available at . 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at . [19]GlobalSecurity.org, "High Power Microwave (HPM)/E-Bomb," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/hpm.htm (March 15, 2006). However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. General DOD policy is that directed-energy weapons can be used legitimately on the battlefield. The two U.S. laser weapons systems closest to actual deployment are the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL) and the Airborne Laser (ABL). Directed energy weapon could be responsible for auditory hallucinations, brain injuries. A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. The meaning of degrade is to remove the enemys ability to operate and to potentially inflict minimal injury on electronic hardware systems. They can be very effective in causing pressurized vessels to explode such as missile propellant and oxidizer tanks. The electrical shock is enough to stun personnel, detonate improvised explosive devices, or destroy electronic equipment. [15], Written off as impractical during World War II, technological advances have now made microwave weapons feasible. to reduce size, weight, and power required to operate these weapons. This revolution changed the nature of warfare: not just tactics, but also the usefulness of armor, castles, and then-popular weapons. The United States has come a very long way in the development of directed energy weapon capabilities and is now at a critical juncture. The device combined two slightly different frequencies which when heard would be heard as the sum of the two frequencies (ultrasonic) and the difference between the two frequencies (infrasonic) e.g. Directed energy weapons are no longer just science fiction. 00:38. 1 (January 1996), at http://www.afa.org/magazine/jan1996/0196airbo.asp (March 15, 2006). This laser would be megawatt class and have a range of hundreds of miles. DE weapons include high-energy lasers, high-power radio frequency or microwave devices, and charged or neutral particle beam weapons.2 Microwaves and lasers are both part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes light energy and radio waves. Neither should we. Once tracked by the TILL, the BILL measures the atmospheric distortion between the COIL and the missile. , 2019, available at . Alane Kochems Since 1999 those weapons have been upgraded for another 13 years. the 14,000 artillery and rocket launchers arrayed within striking distance of Seoul with its 10 million inhabitants. Depending on several operational factors, directed-energy weapons may be cheaper to operate than conventional weapons in certain contexts. During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union studied the possibility of creating particle-beam weapons, which fire streams of electrons, protons, neutrons, or even neutral hydrogen atoms. They will be deployed on land vehicles, aircraft, helicopters, and ships. [27][28][29] The first use of directed-energy weapons in combat between military forces was claimed to have occurred in Libya in August 2019 by Turkey, which claimed to use the ALKA directed-energy weapon. Researchers with AFRL use the Guidestar laser for real-time, high-fidelity tracking and imaging of satellites too faint for conventional adaptive optical imaging systems. "'[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. PRISM. These photons are all at the same wavelength and are coherent, meaning the crests and troughs of the light waves are all in lockstep. Thermal blooming occurs in both charged and neutral particle beams, and occurs when particles bump into one another under the effects of thermal vibration, or bump into air molecules. While DEWs are not a panacea, the armed services should fully support research and development of these useful technologies. two directional speakers emitting 16,000 Hz and 16,002 Hz frequencies would produce in the ear two frequencies of 32,002 Hz and 2 Hz. There is no injury to the target individual. The only question is whether the United States and its allies will achieve that dominance before an adversary does. When a laser beam strikes a target, the energy from the photons in the beam heats the target to the point of combustion or melting. There has yet to be testing for long-term side effects of exposure to the microwave beam. [82], LRADs are often fitted on commercial and military ships. For example, when deployed, the anti-ballistic missile Airborne Laser will cost approximately $1,000 per shot,[5] while each Patriot missile currently costs $2 million to $3 million. During the Iraq War, electromagnetic weapons, including high power microwaves, were used by the U.S. military to disrupt and destroy Iraqi electronic systems and may have been used for crowd control. Directional sound. Certain types of particle beams have the advantage of being self-focusing in the atmosphere. 2 According to the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Both the Allies and the Axis powers conducted basic research and studies into primitive directed-energy weapons before World War II. 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. However, because beam strength degrades rapidly as the particles react with the atoms in the atmosphere, it requires an enormous power plant to generate a weapons-grade beam. While the development costs of directed energy systems can be high, there are several factors in play which can reduce these costs or at least provide better return on the investment over the life cycle. [71] The negative effects of the radiation poisoning and cancer would extend past the period of incarceration. Much work needs to be done before DEWs are deployed. Vigilant Eagle is a ground-based airport defense system that directs high-frequency microwaves towards any projectile that is fired at an aircraft. Its effective beam width is so small that it can be directed at individuals in a riot. [5]Suzann Chapman, "The Airborne Laser," Air Force Magazine, Vol. 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. HPM lethality can be affected by atmospheric conditions as well, but to a much lesser degree than high-energy laser (HEL) weapons. The U.S. Army has also been moving out aggressively in developing and deploying directed energy weapons as part of its Air and Missile Defense modernization priority. A mechanized unit advancing through a town, protected by an anti-artillery and anti-missile laser shield, clearing the surrounding buildings of snipers and enemy troops with an active denial system, and using electrolasers to stun them before taking them prisoner, all while using HPM weapons to render the enemy's communications useless, would be a powerful military unit indeed. [46] Potentially lethal effects are produced only inside 100 meters range, and disruptive effects at distances on the order of one kilometer. In this case, the enemy would be required to totally replace entire systems, facilities, and hardware if it was to regain any degree of operational status.9. In the 1970s and '80s it became the primary method of repressing domestic 'hostile-negative'[73] forces. 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. Similar in principle to the microwave oven, the weapons produce energies in the megawatt range. High-power microwave (HPM) weapons work by producing either beams or short bursts of high-frequency radio energy. [38] The device comes in various sizes, including attached to a Humvee. Bofors HPM Blackout is a high-powered microwave weapon that is said to be able to destroy at short distance a wide variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic equipment and is purportedly non-lethal. A DE weapon is a system using DE primarily as a direct means to disable, damage or destroy adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel. 1, 2018, available at < https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/03/21/us-army-successfully-demos-laser-weapon-on-stryker-in-europe/>. They can not only achieve these speeds but can maneuver at them as well including varying trajectories, headings and altitudes. High-power microwave (HPM) weapons work by producing either beams or short bursts of high-frequency radio energy. While they are both part of the electromagnetic spectrum, laser and microwave weapons operate very differently and have very different effects. But by far, the most ambitious program underway in DOD is being led by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The system consists of a missile-detecting and tracking subsystem (MDT), a command and control system, and a scanning array. The armed services need to move from just saying that DEWs are a good idea to fully supporting their development. In a much more dramatic application, the recently released Missile Defense Review (MDR), the first update to U.S. Missile Defense Strategy in nearly a decade, delivers a visionary plan to protect the United States from ever-intensifying threats around the world. 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. However, risks, challenges and limitations remain. This concentrated energy can have effects across the entire spectrum from non-lethal to lethal. However, because beam strength degrades rapidly as the particles react with the atoms in the atmosphere, it requires an enormous power plant to generate a weapons-grade beam. They have strong physical and psychological effects and can be used for military and terrorist activities. 1 Directed Energy Weapons. What are the challenges and next steps? Additional information on How Lasers Work, is available on the Lawrence Livermore National Lab website, . It was a psychological warfare method which could involve the group based and systematic gaslighting of targets, among other things. Boost glide weapons are launched atop ballistic missiles then released to glide to the target. There are two types of hypersonic weapons, boost glide and air-launched high-speed cruise missiles. [17], Another power source, well-suited to one-time use in an e-bomb, is the Explosively Pumped Flux Compression Generator (EPFCG). 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. As another example, high energy lasers could be used to protect forward-deployed troops and bases from attacks by swarms of unmanned aircraft carrying explosive devices. 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. In the 1951 science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, powerful ray guns are shown vaporizing rifles and even tanks. The military has rhetorically embraced the wonders of DEWs, but it has not always opened its wallet to fund the technologies. [10], Once tracked by the TILL, the BILL measures the atmospheric distortion between the COIL and the missile. [6]GlobalSecurity.org, "Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/patriot-ac-3.htm (March 15, 2006). RIVERDALE, Md. [11], The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. [30][31] After decades of research and development, most directed-energy weapons are still at the experimental stage and it remains to be seen if or when they will be deployed as practical, high-performance military weapons.[32][33]. Russia has reportedly been using blinding laser weapons during its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Loading. Millimeter waveband energy can penetrate human skin to a very shallow depth, heating the tissue below. 11, Air War College Center for Strategy and Technology, May 2000. Panel discussions on the role of high-power lasers in SDI took place at various laser conferences, during the 1980s, with the participation of noted physicists including Edward Teller.[76][77]. The EPFCG uses chemical explosives to compress an electrically charged coil. This destroys the device but produces electrical pulses in the terawatt range-the equivalent of 10 to 1,000 lightning strikes. Stupor is reported to have been used by Russian forces during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Because they were invented several decades ago, lasers are the most mature of the DEW technologies. This produces a burning pain without actually damaging the tissue. To maximize the United States ability to field DE weapons, here is a ten-part approach to get us going in the right direction: These are steps to take to bring directed energy prototype systems to the warfighters. 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. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. At some point in the future, entire military units may be armed with only DEWs. 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. The Russian Stupor is reported to have a range of two kilometers, covering a 20-degree sector; it also suppresses the drone's cameras. The THEL system uses radar to detect and track incoming targets. The U.S. military has developed a directed energy technology that shoots beams of a slightly longer wavelength in a focused area over distances up to a mile. At distances of 50200 meters (160660ft), the sound waves could act on organ tissues and fluids by repeatedly compressing and releasing compressive resistant organs such as the kidneys, spleen, and liver. The power output necessary for a weapons-grade laser ranges from 10 kilowatts to 1 megawatt. The sensation increases in intensity until the affected individual moves out of the beam or it is shut off. This plan includes a program which aims to test high energy lasers on aircraft against surface to air and air to air missile threats. By Henry Trey Obering, III 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>. 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U.S. Defense architecture the technologies, 15th ed., s.v electrical pulses in the Middle... With AFRL use the electromagnetic spectrum ( light and radio energy ) attack!