directed-energy-weapons

tronic components. The study envisioned two classes of directed-energy weapons: “compact weapons constituting onlya small fraction of the aircraft payload, for short-range self defense, and medium-range weapons, constituting a primarypayload, employed for escort defense.” Ultimately, the study concluded, directed-energy weapons would bedeployed on a variety of airborne systems, both manned and unmanned, to support air-to-ground operations. 33One key to the exploitation of directed energy for the range of missions proposed by the Air Force and Army is thedevelopment of compact devices that can be carried on aircraft, deployed on ground vehicles or even carried by individualsoldiers. With respect to lasers, this means developing solid-state devices in the 100 kilowatt range – as comparedto the ABL’s one megawatt system. For HPM weapons, these roles would require systems that could operatefrom power supplies that could be carried aboard an aircraft or ground vehicle. The onboard engines could power adirected-energy weapon in the case of large aircraft and, even more so, ships.Another key is the development of the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). The limits of current engineeringare likely to restrict the effective power, and hence the range, of aircraft-deployable directed-energy systems in themedium term. However, even at relatively low power levels, directed-energy weapons can be effective at disruptingelectronic systems if the weapon and the target are very close. An effective tactical laser weapon would require powerlevels of approximately 100KW. A 100 KW solid state laser or its HPM equivalent would have an effective range ofperhaps 15 kilometers, depending on the effect being sought. This may not matter for defensive purposes, but couldpose a problem for the offensive use of directed energy. Increasingly, the Air Force is looking to provide standoffengagement distances of 50 kilometers or more for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.A UCAV would provide the means for introducing short-range directed-energy weapons into an intense air-defenseenvironment. There is also great potential for a stealthy UCAV armed with a directed-energy weapon to be very effectiveas a preemptive weapon or in suppression of air defenses. Air Force Chief of Staff General John Jumper describedthe combination of the UCAV and directed-energy weapons, in this instance an HPM weapon, as follows:If you combine directed energy with the UCAVs of the type we have today, you have a combinationthat uses stealth to go into [heavily defended territory and HPM to] tell the SA-10 thatit’s a Maytag washer on the rinse cycle rather than a missile about to shoot somebody down.You can fly this thing in and debilitate in various ways the sophisticated communications andelectronics that are going to cause you the greatest worry [and make the attack] with deniability.I don’t think it will compete with F-15Es and the Joint Strike Fighter, but it would be valuableto commanders in an [air defense] suppression or information operations role. 34A UCAV with a directed-energy weapon could attack a large number of targets in a single sortie. A microwave-armedUCAV could be the ultimate SEAD weapon, able to fly over known sites or along penetration corridors as a precursorto the ingress of manned aircraft or cruise missiles. Even if the air-defense system were turned off, a tactic used bySerbian air defenders during the Kosovo campaign, the microwave would still be able to attack radar and missile sites.So long as the UCAV had fuel to fly and energy for the HPM weapon, it could continue to operate against hostile airdefense and command and control sites.The Military Uses and National-Security Implications of Directed-Energy Weapons27