They can be very effective in causing pressurized vessels to explode such as missile propellant and oxidizer tanks. Laser dazzlers-devices that use laser light to temporarily blind sensors, optics, and personnel- are already available for law enforcement and military use. The term deny is defined as the ability to eliminate the enemys ability to operate without inflicting harm on the system. 7, No. They could therefore avoid there being any evidence of repression or at least limit it. Within that priority area, the Army is focused on the use of high energy lasers to provide Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) and ManeuverShort-Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD). A prototype ADS system mounted on a Humvee went into testing in August 2005. However, risks, challenges and limitations remain. The armed services need to move from just saying that DEWs are a good idea to fully supporting their development. This type of weapon shows great potential as a riot-control device or area-denial system. Design specifications are already being determined. [7]Bill Gertz, "N. Korea Fired Laser at Troops," The Washington Times, May 13, 2003, at http://newsmine.org/archive/war-on-terror/north-korea/nkorea-fired-laser-at-troops.txt (March 15, 2006). [8]"Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program.". The Armys Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is now asked to make DE technology available to the warfighters as quickly as possible. Particle-beam weapons can use charged or neutral particles, and can be either endoatmospheric or exoatmospheric. [9], The ABL is a system that uses a megawatt chemical laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747 to shoot down theater ballistic missiles. These devices have also been demonstrated to stall or damage car, truck, or boat motors. [1] They may begin to appear on the battlefield within the next decade, bringing a revolution in weapons and how war is waged. What exactly is a directed energy weapon? 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. Light is, for practical purposes, unaffected by, Lasers travel at light-speed and have long range, making them suitable for use in. In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. Like lasers, HPM weapons can operate in a pulsed or continuous manner and are classified using peak or average power respectively. The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. . 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. A DE weapon is a system using DE primarily as a direct means to disable, damage or destroy adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel. The short, intense bursts of energy produced by HPM devices damage equipment without injuring personnel. Informally, the weapon is also called the heat ray since it works by heating the surface of targets, such as the skin of targeted human beings. 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. [6]GlobalSecurity.org, "Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/patriot-ac-3.htm (March 15, 2006). 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. In addition, a laser shot (including the cost of producing the energy) is much cheaper than a shot from a chemical-powered weapon system. 1 Directed Energy Weapons. Neither should we. [45] The energy spikes are tailored to enter missiles through antennae or sensor apertures where they can fool guidance systems, scramble computer memories or even burn out sensitive electronic components. Moreover, cheap countermeasures can be applied to existing missiles. According to DODs Joint Publication 313 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. Semiconductors and modern electronics are particularly susceptible to HPM attacks. 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. [6], Because they were invented several decades ago, lasers are the most mature of the DEW technologies. However, as with the development of any unprecedented military capability, there are risks, challenges and limitations involving their cost, schedule and performance. Raytheon had marketed a reduced-range version of this technology. Today, Directed Energy weapons are being developed by the US and its adversaries for land, sea, and air and space applications. The soldier returned a short time later to say that the engine would now work and the tourists drove off. 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 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. They hurt and kill with electromagnetic power. [49], Both Russia and Ukraine are reported to use these devices during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. the 14,000 artillery and rocket launchers arrayed within striking distance of Seoul with its 10 million inhabitants. In addition, while you are firing on one power source, you can be charging another for near continuous operation. 00:38. can affect a lasers performance but there are ways to address these phenomena. 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). [48], Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project, A laser weapon is a directed-energy weapon based on lasers.[50]. General DOD policy is that directed-energy weapons can be used legitimately on the battlefield. 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. As defined by Direct Energy Weapons Agency is any weapon, device or electronic that uses any kind of energy to disable, harass, assault, incapacitate another human being, an enemy's weapons, their equipment, hideouts, etc. [26] Most DEWs are not yet far enough along in development and thus have not received this final stamp of approval. Among the directed-energy weapons the Nazis investigated were X-ray beam weapons developed under Heinz Schmellenmeier, Richard Gans and Fritz Houtermans. Lasers produce narrow, single-frequency (i.e., single-color), coherent beams of light that are much more powerful than ordinary light sources. A year later, testing showed that the ADS could produce effects at ranges beyond current small-arms range. [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 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. 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). [79][80] However, this story is comprehensively denied by the crew members of STS-41-G and knowledgeable members of the US intelligence community. 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. But let us broaden these applications somewhat. 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. There are numerous pathways and entry points through which microwave energy can penetrate electronic systems. [71] The negative effects of the radiation poisoning and cancer would extend past the period of incarceration. 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. Directional sound. [46] Potentially lethal effects are produced only inside 100 meters range, and disruptive effects at distances on the order of one kilometer. "Bofors HPM Blackout". Loading. 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. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Raytheon for riot-control duty. When these waves interact with a person, they pass through the skin and transfer energy to the water that lies just under the surface. [74] Some of the victims of this method suffered from suspicious cases of cancer and have claimed that they had also been targeted with directed X-rays. One such alternative method was called decomposition (transl. [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). HPM lethality can be affected by atmospheric conditions as well, but to a much lesser degree than high-energy laser (HEL) weapons. Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. 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. [citation needed]. And of course, lasers employed at higher altitudes or in space would have very little to no atmospheric affects. Particle beams as beam weapons are theoretically possible, but practical weapons have not been demonstrated yet. "Raytheon focuses on non-lethal weapons", Andrew Johnson. Between 200005, a prototype chemical laser successfully destroyed 46 rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds in flight during field tests. [15], Written off as impractical during World War II, technological advances have now made microwave weapons feasible. [12] A complete prototype ABL weapons system will be assembled in 2006. Modern battlefield weapons are the descendents of muskets and cannon. Fixing the Research and Deployment Bottlenecks. 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/>. They are not "weapons of mass destruction," but they have the potential to . HPM weapon technology is based on the same technology as radar devices, which already have a long history of research and development. In addition, the cost per shot of a directed energy weapons could be orders of magnitude less expensive than current kinetic weapons. 8, No. A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy, including laser, microwaves and particle Andrew Gudgel. Design specifications are already being determined. 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. 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. Weapons that go beyond non-lethal intentions and cause 'superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering' may also violate the Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977."[87]. First, the choice of a lasers wavelength can help to mitigate the affect because different laser wavelengths perform much better in the atmosphere than others. This directed energy technology was designed for nonlethal control of crowds. 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, 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. What are Directed Energy Weapons? This produces a burning pain without actually damaging the tissue. and directed energy weapons exist in the medical profession and in society at large. However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. But there is a rule of thumb that states that an interceptor needs to be capable of three times the speed of the target it is defending against to be able to maneuver to destroy it. The United States must realize that it has to resource the development and fielding of these capabilities. The EPFCG uses chemical explosives to compress an electrically charged coil. Such arrests, which could also involve direct physical torture, were condemned internationally. ", 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. The pain forces the person to flee the area. Mounted on properly shielded aircraft or ships, or dropped in single-use "e-bombs," HPM weapons could destroy enemy radars, anti-aircraft installations, and communications and computer networks and even defend against incoming anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles. [56] Their weapons capability has been controversially used in the USA to disrupt numerous protests. 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. 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at . They are real and are maturing rapidly. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. Examples include damaging individual components, circuit cards, or the mother boards in a desktop computer. Future research will seek to increase the power and decrease the size of DEW systems. The weapon's long-range capabilities limit opportunities for the user to assess on-the-ground conditions, potentiating the risk for its inappropriate or disproportionate use. 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 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. 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 U.S. Army confirmed in June that it is accelerating efforts to field a directed-energy weapon prototype by 2022. 1, Air War College Center for Strategy and Technology, May 2000. How can they be used and how disruptive can they be? The Ukrainian army are reported to use the Ukrainian KVS G-6, with a 3.5km range and able to operate continuously for 30 minutes. These weapons were considered for both land and space-based systems. Similar to the Armys RCCTO and the Navys Accelerated Acquisition (AA) Process, the Air Force is leveraging both Air Force Research Laboratorys DE Directorate and Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office to expedite delivery of capabilities to address key capability gaps identified in the DE flight plan: Forward Base Defense, Precision Strike, and Aircraft Self-Protect. The brave men and women who confront dangerous threats across all physical domainsland, air, sea, and spaceneed nothing less than the worlds most promising new capabilities to protect U.S. national security. In March 2003, North Korea may have used a ZM-87 to "paint" two U.S. Apache helicopters patrolling the Demilitarized Zone.[7]. Directed energy weapons, also known by the brand name Active Denial System, are a new technology developed by the U.S. military. Russia has reportedly been using blinding laser weapons during its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. At higher energy levels, the microwaves can permanently "burn out" equipment, much as a close lightning strike could. 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. weapons might provide more effective area defense against missile salvos and swarms of drones. The number of "shots" a laser weapon can produce is limited only by its power supply. This technology delivers very high-frequency millimeter-wavelength electromagnetic rays that heat skin on contact, causing a painful burning sensation. Depending on the type of laser, this means that the weapon can have an almost "endless magazine" of laser bursts. But again, there are major advances in these areas being made especially with the technology that has been developing in the electric car industry. Discrete, mission-aligned efforts will maintain our pace of development in the race to get these technologies to the field. The United States has come a very long way in the development of directed energy weapon capabilities and is now at a critical juncture. In addition, a laser shot (including the cost of producing the energy) is much cheaper than a shot from a chemical-powered weapon system. 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. ", "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? However, considerable work still needs to be done before they can be deployed. These waves penetrate only a few millimeters into the skin and cause the sensation of heat. 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. HPM weapons lethality is typically described in terms of their ability to deny, degrade, damage or destroy a targets capabilities. [19]GlobalSecurity.org, "High Power Microwave (HPM)/E-Bomb," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/hpm.htm (March 15, 2006). 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. These technologies need the full support of the armed services, and the Department of Defense (DOD) needs to generate clear guidelines for their use. Another revolution in weaponry is currently underway, with directed-energy weapons on the cusp of replacing chemical-powered weapons on the battlefield. 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. [21], A demonstration system was tested at Kirtland Air Force Base in 2000. [8], In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. Increasing laser power and improving the beam quality can also help to mitigate atmospheric effects in many cases. 3 How a Fiber Laser Works, SPI Lasers International website, available at . This revolution changed the nature of warfare: not just tactics, but also the usefulness of armor, castles, and then-popular weapons. 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. European Parliament The sensation increases in intensity until the affected individual moves out of the beam or it is shut off. In practice, the weapon was highly vulnerable to enemy fire. In addition, controllers can vary the strength of the energy put on a target, unlike a bullet or exploding bomb, allowing for nonlethal uses. 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. As with all new weapons, the DOD General Counsel reviews each DEW for compliance with international and U.S. laws before the Pentagon is allowed to field it. Today, solid state electrical (including fiber) and hybrid lasers are being developed that are much lighter and smaller. The THEL system uses radar to detect and track incoming targets. There is no injury to the target individual. There is no injury to the target individual. The ABL is a system that uses a megawatt chemical laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747 to shoot down theater ballistic missiles. Directed Energy Weapon / Targeted Individual Patents . DEW technology and its enabling infrastructure have matured to the point that DEWs can begin moving from the lab to the battlefield. [11], The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. 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. [48] Lasers produce either continuous beams or short, intense pulses of light in every spectrum from infrared to ultraviolet. Light and repetitive visual signals can induce epileptic seizures. This information is then transferred to an optical tracking system, which refines the target tracking and positions the beam director. 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. Therefore, currently deployed defenses against ballistic missiles will not be effective in defending against these non-ballistic threats. 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]. The Air Force Research Lab's Propulsion Directorate has studied using generators that use high-temperature superconducting wire and high-voltage capacitors. This In Focus discusses a selection of [41] Vigilant Eagle was not mentioned on Raytheon's Web site in 2022. However, these lasers were generally large and heavy. Lasers can be categorized as gas, solid state, or a hybrid of the two. The system generates a focused beam of energy at the frequency of 95 gigahertz. Zersetzung). A microwave weapon can achieve this result by causing malfunctions within certain relay and processing circuits within the enemy target system. Directed energy is a breakthrough technology whose time has come. 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. The technology is maturing rapidly, threats are emerging which directed energy can almost uniquely address, and the warfighters are signaling their support. Authors: 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. Alane Kochems 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. 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. [2]David E. Fisher, A Race on the Edge of Time: Radar-The Decisive Weapon of WWII (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988), pp. For instance, the Active Denial System was not ready for deployment when the United States invaded Iraq, in part because the money was not there. The command and control system determines the missile launch point. speed of light engagement which makes responsiveness and tracking much faster than kinetic weapons; deep shot magazines which are only limited by the electrical power supplied to and re-generated by the system; stealth-like performance (quiet and invisible beams) that are hard to detect or intercept; precision targeting for both lethal and non-lethal applications; and. In 1935, the British Air Ministry asked Robert Watson-Watt of the Radio Research Station whether a "death ray" was possible. 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. 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. [21]U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, "Active Denial System," fact sheet, September 2005, at http://www.de.afrl.af.mil/Factsheets/ActiveDenial.swf (March 15, 2006). What are the challenges and next steps? Directed-energy weapons can be used discreetly; radiation does not generate sound and is invisible if outside the visible spectrum. At the speeds that these hypersonic missiles fly, they have vulnerabilities which could be exploited by directed energy weapons. 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