A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy, including laser, microwaves and particle Consider that today the United States will launch kinetic interceptors at an incoming threat warhead that cost tens of millions of dollars and multiple interceptors are fired for maximum probability of success. In addition, when the East German state collapsed, powerful X-ray equipment was found in prisons without there being any apparent reason to justify its presence. 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 among the high-tech arms of the century. Directed energy weapons conjure up images of the Death Star's Superlaser or Optimus Prime's Ion Blaster. However, a stronger counterargument is that directed-energy weapons, especially lasers, are more humane than conventional weapons because they can strike pinpoint targets, thus causing less collateral damage. Additional information on How Lasers Work, is available on the Lawrence Livermore National Lab website, . The system generates a focused beam of energy at the frequency of 95 gigahertz. 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at . Are these weapons still science fiction, lab experiments, or are they real? [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 virtual inaudibility of the equipment is said to produce a "spooky" psychological effect. This information is then transferred to an optical tracking system, which refines the target tracking and positions the beam director. The combination of technology advancements improving lethality and reducing SWaP in high energy laser technology and the advent of threats such as hypersonic weapons for which kinetic solutions are problematic has resulted in high energy lasers and directed energy weapons more generally being pursued vigorously across the services consistent with the National Defense Strategy.10. The Air Force Research Lab's Propulsion Directorate has studied using generators that use high-temperature superconducting wire and high-voltage capacitors. 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. [46] Potentially lethal effects are produced only inside 100 meters range, and disruptive effects at distances on the order of one kilometer. Depending on the type of laser, this means that the weapon can have an almost "endless magazine" of laser bursts. [5]Suzann Chapman, "The Airborne Laser," Air Force Magazine, Vol. 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. and directed energy weapons exist in the medical profession and in society at large. 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 ABL is a system that uses a megawatt chemical laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747 to shoot down theater ballistic missiles. Because the laser energy travels at the speed of light, lasers are particularly well-suited for use against moving targets such as rockets, missiles, and artillery projectiles. [16]U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, "High-Power Microwaves," fact sheet, September 2002, at http://www.de.afrl.af.mil/Factsheets/HPM.swf (March 15, 2006). Neither should we. Discrete, mission-aligned efforts will maintain our pace of development in the race to get these technologies to the field. 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 United States has come a very long way in the development of directed energy weapon capabilities and is now at a critical juncture. Research was also conducted on a mobile version of the THEL called the MTEL. 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. 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 . 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. ", "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? Boost glide weapons are launched atop ballistic missiles then released to glide to the target. Thus, the deny capability is not permanent because the affected systems can be easily restored to their previous operational condition. 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. In fact, the megawatt-class Airborne Laser developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s required an entire 747 aircraft to hold the equipment. The Air Force Research Lab's Propulsion Directorate has studied using generators that use high-temperature superconducting wire and high-voltage capacitors. DEW technology is changing faster than international laws and treaties can adapt. They can destroy, degrade or blind many other systems that contain sensors and electronics. For example, lasers can cut through steel, aluminum, and many other materials in a matter of seconds. HPM weapons lethality is typically described in terms of their ability to deny, degrade, damage or destroy a targets capabilities. 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. [4] Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. The device emits separate electromagnetic pulses to suppress navigation and transmission channels used to operate an aerial drone, terminating the drone's contact with its operator; the out-of-control drone then crashes. 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. In this last factor, the frequency of the laser and the engagement altitude will have a significant impact on how much the atmosphere effects the lasers lethality. 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. Finally, the concept of destroy involves the ability to inflict catastrophic and permanent injury on the enemy functions and systems. and also Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Symptoms of extremely high and extremely low EMFs and Directed Energy Weapons or (DEW) Please keep in mind that not all symptoms are experienced in an exact order - you may experience the worst symptoms first - or the least of the symptoms in a later stage. 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. These lasers, combined with significant improvements in computational power, represent dramatic advances in technology over those used in the Airborne Laser program. Lung tissue was affected at only the closest ranges as atmospheric air is highly compressible and only the blood rich alveoli resist compression. How 'Revolutionary' Is CHAMP, New Air Force Microwave Weapon? -Alane Kochems is a Policy Analyst for National Security in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation. HPM weapon technology is based on the same technology as radar devices, which already have a long history of research and development. The THEL system uses radar to detect and track incoming targets. Conceptual MindWorks in San Antonio, TX received a $7 million cost-plus fixed-fee contract to provide for research support around emerging directed energy weapons (including non-lethal weapons) and their effects on humans.Work will be conducted in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate (AFRL/HEDR), Directed Energy Bio-effects Division, Radio . 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. It was a psychological warfare method which could involve the group based and systematic gaslighting of targets, among other things. Because of its coherence, laser light can stay concentrated for very long distanceseven thousands of miles into space. [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). 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. Laser dazzlers-devices that use laser light to temporarily blind sensors, optics, and personnel- are already available for law enforcement and military use. Its effective beam width is so small that it can be directed at individuals in a riot. Today, solid state electrical (including fiber) and hybrid lasers are being developed that are much lighter and smaller. There has yet to be testing for long-term side effects of exposure to the microwave beam. However, current research focuses on using them as a means of nonlethal area defense and as anti-electronic weapons rather than as "death rays.". 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