Laser dazzlers-devices that use laser light to temporarily blind sensors, optics, and personnel- are already available for law enforcement and military use. [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. Existing directed-energy weapons are in the range of tens of thousands of kilowatts: the American ADS fires a 100kW millimetre-wave beam which can cause burns to the skin; the Turkish ALKA dual EM/laser system for use against combat vehicles reportedly has a power of 50kW; the LAWS laser weapon generated 33kW during testing; and Dynetics and . This capability would be very useful at checkpoints or for stopping escaping vehicles. These devices have also been demonstrated to stall or damage car, truck, or boat motors. European Parliament 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. X-ray lasers may be possible in the not too distant future. 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. In an effort to avoid such condemnation the state security service, the Stasi, attempted alternative methods of repression which could paralyze people without keeping them in a physical prison. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Raytheon for riot-control duty. Albert Einstein described the theoretical underpinnings of lasers in 1917. Microwave weapons can be aimed at computers, electronical devices and persons. These weapons were considered for both land and space-based systems. Millimeter waveband energy can penetrate human skin to a very shallow depth, heating the tissue below. For high energy lasers, lethality depends on the power output of the laser, the purity and concentration of the light (beam quality), the target range, the ability to keep the laser on the target aimpoint (jitter control and tracking), and the atmospheric environment the laser traverses to the target. ", Press release, "Airborne Laser Progress Continues as Northrop Grumman Runs Full-Power COIL Tests, Delivers Beacon Illuminator Laser," Northrop Grumman Corporation, January 4, 2006, at, SPG Media, "ABL YAL 1A Airborne Laser, USA," at, Press release, "Boeing Receives Aircraft for Laser Gunship Program," Boeing, January 23, 2006, at. DEWs use the electromagnetic spectrum (light and radio energy) to attack pinpoint targets at the speed of light. [21], A demonstration system was tested at Kirtland Air Force Base in 2000. Some attempts to replicate this feat have had some success; in particular, an experiment by students at MIT showed that a mirror-based weapon was at least possible, if not necessarily practical. These high-speed missiles fly at Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) and greater. 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. The first step in this endeavor is underway with funding for laser scaling and beam quality improvements for both combined fiber lasers as well as hybrid lasers such as the diode pumped alkali laser or DPALS. Finally, the concept of destroy involves the ability to inflict catastrophic and permanent injury on the enemy functions and systems. [46] Potentially lethal effects are produced only inside 100 meters range, and disruptive effects at distances on the order of one kilometer. 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. [1]On August 24, 2004, the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system destroyed a salvo of mortar rounds in midair during a test. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. Laser weapons potentially eliminate many logistical problems in terms of ammunition supply, as long as there is enough energy to power them. [45], AESA radars mounted on fighter aircraft have been slated as directed energy weapons against missiles, however, a senior US Air Force officer noted: "they aren't particularly suited to create weapons effects on missiles because of limited antenna size, power and field of view". 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. In the later phases of World War II, Nazi Germany increasingly put its hopes on research into technologically revolutionary secret weapons, the Wunderwaffe. The military has rhetorically embraced the wonders of DEWs, but it has not always opened its wallet to fund the technologies. [1][2] In the United States, the Pentagon, DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, United States Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, and the Naval Research Laboratory are researching directed-energy weapons to counter ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles, and hypersonic glide vehicles. 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. DE warfare is military action involving the use of DE weapons, devices, and countermeasures to either cause direct damage or destruction of adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel, or to determine, exploit, reduce, or prevent hostile use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) through damage, destruction, and disruption.1. [23]Press release, "Northrop Grumman Surpasses Power, Run-Time Requirements of Joint High Power Solid-State Laser Program for Military Use," Northrop Grumman Corporation, November 9, 2005, at http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.mhtml?d=89438 (March 15, 2006). [38] The device comes in various sizes, including attached to a Humvee. Not only could they be used to defend against ballistic missiles in the boost/ascent and midcourse phase, but they could also be used to defend critical space-based assets against enemy anti-satellite attack. [8], In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. The Russian Stupor is reported to have a range of two kilometers, covering a 20-degree sector; it also suppresses the drone's cameras. 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. It was a psychological warfare method which could involve the group based and systematic gaslighting of targets, among other things. Examples include damaging individual components, circuit cards, or the mother boards in a desktop computer. When they return to their normal or ground state, the electrons emit photons (particles of light). Funding has been cut to both of the programs. This concentrated energy can have effects across the entire spectrum from non-lethal to lethal. Authors: 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. 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. "'[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. Vection and motion sickness can also occur. 5-1111, Special Report, Phillips Laboratory, March 1996, 76. The power output necessary for a weapons-grade laser ranges from 10 kilowatts to 1 megawatt. A DE weapon is a system using DE primarily as a direct means to disable, damage or destroy adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel. 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]. What are Directed Energy Weapons? Since the invention of gunpowder, a weapon's effectiveness has no longer depended on the wielder's strength, but on the chemical energy of the propellant or explosive. The intent was to pre-ionize ignition in aircraft engines and hence serve as anti-aircraft DEW and bring planes down into the reach of the flak. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. But again, there are major advances in these areas being made especially with the technology that has been developing in the electric car industry. A high-voltage electrical charge is then fed into one of the laser beams, striking the target. [63], During the early 1940s Axis engineers developed a sonic cannon that could cause fatal vibrations in its target body. [18]Carlo Kopp, "The Electromagnetic Bomb-A Weapon of Electrical Mass Destruction," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1996/apjemp.htm (March 15, 2006). This destroys the device but produces electrical pulses in the terawatt range-the equivalent of 10 to 1,000 lightning strikes. Russia has reportedly been using blinding laser weapons during its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 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. For example, lasers can cut through steel, aluminum, and many other materials in a matter of seconds. The Phaser | December 6, 2022 Q NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2022. But by far, the most ambitious program underway in DOD is being led by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). 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. [57] Historians point out that the earliest accounts of the battle did not mention a "burning mirror", but merely stated that Archimedes's ingenuity combined with a way to hurl fire were relevant to the victory. Microwave weapons can be aimed at computers, electronical devices and persons. 12 Jen Judson, U.S. The Army used Navy-, and Air Force- developed HPM weapons during recent conflicts to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Compare that to a high energy laser which could kill multiple threat missiles with a single magazine charge for a tiny fraction of the cost. 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). The THEL system uses radar to detect and track incoming targets. 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. Retrieved 2010-01-04. While directed-energy research is advancing, inadequate funding is hindering more rapid development and deployment of these technologies. 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. U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs: Hearings Gulf War Illnesses; Testimony to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee; Meryl Nass, MD, Director of Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Mount Desert Island Hospital Bar Harbor, Maine; September 25, 2007, Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 22:00, United States Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, "Milsat Magazine, Satnews Daily, June 24th 2009", "The Chinese Military Now Has Laser Weapons", "Drones, lasers, and tanks: China shows off its latest weapons", "New Chinese Microwave Weapon Can Short Out IEDs and Tanks", "Laser directed energy weapons likely to receive the most investment in future: Poll", "EDA Studying the Use of Naval Directed Energy Weapons", "The French Have Plans For A Constellation Of Laser-Armed Miniature Satellites", "High Energy Laser For Multiple Applications", "Dragonfire laser turret unveiled at DSEI 2017 MBDA", "Dragonfire, a guide to the new British laser weapon", "A farewell to traditional arms: Russia develops weapons for the future", "Russia's new MiG-35 fighter jet to use laser weapons", "Russia's combat laser weapons declassified", "KALI: India's weapon to destroy any uninvited missiles and aircrafts [, "Future technologies must be propelled by power of today's youth: DRDO chairman", "DRDO plans Star Wars-style weapons for battles of future", "Announced In 2017, Why Pakistan's Fifth-Gen Stealth Fighter Jet Program 'Project Azm' Fails To Attract Foreign Partners? 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