Directed energy could revolutionize warfare, expert says
Beam weapons almost ready for battle
By Leonard David
Senior space writer
Space.com
Updated: 12:10 p.m. ET Jan. 11, 2006
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching —
and at the speed of light, no less. They are labeled "directed-energy
weapons," and they may well signal a revolution in military hardware —
perhaps more so than the atomic bomb.
Directed-energy weapons take the form of lasers, high-powered
microwaves and particle beams. Their adoption for ground, air, sea,
and space warfare depends not only on using the electromagnetic
spectrum, but also upon favorable political and budgetary wavelengths too.
That's the outlook of J. Douglas Beason, author of the recently
published book "The E-Bomb: How America's New Directed Energy Weapons
Will Change the Way Wars Will Be Fought in the Future." Beason
previously served on the White House staff working for the president's
science adviser under both the Bush and Clinton administrations.
After more than two decades of research, the United States is on the
verge of deploying a new generation of weapons that discharge beams of
energy, such as the Airborne Laser and the Active Denial System, as
well as the Tactical High Energy Laser, or THEL.
"History has shown that, without investment in high technology,
fighting the next war will be done using the 'last war' type of
technique," Beason told Space.com. Putting money into basic and
long-range research is critical, Beason said, adding: "You can't
always schedule breakthroughs."
A leading expert in directed-energy research for 26 years, Beason is
also director of threat reduction here at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory. However, he noted that he was expressing his own views
rather than the policy of the laboratory, the Defense Department or
the Energy Department.
Ripe for transformation?
Though considerable work has been done in lasers, high-power
microwaves and other directed-energy technologies, weaponization is
still an ongoing process.
For example, work is continuing in the military's Airborne Laser
program. It utilizes a megawatt-class, high-energy chemical oxygen
iodine laser toted skyward aboard a modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
Purpose of the program is to enable the detection, tracking and
destruction of ballistic missiles in the boost phase, or powered part
of their flight.
Similarly, testing of the U.S. Army's Tactical High Energy Laser in
White Sands, N.M., has shown the ability of heating high-flying rocket
warheads, blasting them with enough energy to make them self-detonate.
THEL uses a high-energy, deuterium fluoride chemical laser. A mobile
THEL also demonstrated the ability to kill multiple mortar rounds.
Then there's Active Denial Technology — a non-lethal way to use
millimeter-wave electromagnetic energy to stop, deter and turn back an
advancing adversary. This technology, supported by the U.S. Marines,
uses a beam of millimeter waves to heat a foe's skin, causing severe
pain without damage, and making the adversary flee the scene.
Beason also pointed to new exciting research areas underway at the Los
Alamos National Laboratory: Free-electron laser work with the Navy and
a new type of directed energy that operates in the terahertz region.
Niche for new technology
While progress in directed-energy is appreciable, Beason sees two
upfront problems in moving the technology forward. One issue has to do
with "convincing the warfighter that there's a niche for this new type
of weapon," and the other relates to making sure these new systems are
not viewed as a panacea to solve all problems. "They are only another
tool," he said.
Looming even larger is the role of those who acquire new weapons. "The
U.S. could put ourselves in a very disastrous position if we allow our
acquisition officials to be non-technically competent," Beason explained.
Over the decades, Beason said that the field of directed-energy has
had its share of "snake-oil salesmen", as well as those advocates who
overpromised. "It wasn't ready for prime time."
At present, directed-energy systems "are barely limping along with
enough money just to prove that they can work," Beason pointed out.
Meanwhile, huge slugs of money are being put into legacy-type systems
to keep them going.
"It's a matter of priority," Beason said. The time is now to identify
high-payoff, directed-energy projects for the smallest amounts of
money, he said.
Unknown unknowns
In Beason's view, Active Denial Technology, the Airborne Laser program
and the THEL project, as well as supporting technologies such as relay
mirrors, are all works in progress that give reason for added support
and priority funding.
"I truly believe that as the Airborne Laser goes, so goes the rest of
the nation's directed-energy programs. Right now, it's working on the
margin. I believe that there are still `unknown unknowns' out there
that are going to occur in science and technology. We think we have
the physics defined. We think we have the engineering defined. But
something always goes wrong … and we're working too close at the
margin," Beason said.
Stepwise demonstration programs that spotlight directed-energy weapon
systems are needed, Beason noted. Such in-the-field displays could
show off greater beam distance-to-target runs, mobility of hardware,
ease-of-operation, battlefield utility and other attributes.
Directed-energy technologies can offer a range of applications, from
botching up an enemy's electronics to performing "dial-up" destructive
strikes at the speed of light with little or no collateral damage.
Beason said he has a blue-sky idea of his own, which he tags "the
voice from heaven." By tuning the resonance of a laser onto Earth's
ionosphere, you can create audible frequencies. Like some boom box in
the sky, the laser-produced voice could bellow from above down to the
target below: "Put down your weapons."
Relay mirrors
Regarding use of directed-energy space weapons, Beason advised that
"we'll eventually see it."
However, present-day systems are far too messy. Most high-powered
chemical lasers — in the megawatt-class — require onboard fuels and
oxidizers to crank out the amount of energy useful for strategic
applications. Stability of such a laser system rooted in space is also
wanting.
On the other hand, Beason said he expected to see the rise of more
efficient lasers — especially solid-state laser systems. "What
breakthroughs are needed … I'm not sure. Eventually, I think it's
going to happen, but it is going to be a generation after the
battlefield lasers."
Shooting beams "through space" is another matter, Beason quickly
added. Space-based relay mirrors — even high-altitude airships
equipped with relay mirrors — can direct ground-based or air-based
laser beams nearly around the world, he said.
"So you're using space … exploiting it. But you are going through
space to attack anywhere on Earth," Beason said.
History lesson
Late last year, speaking before the Heritage Foundation in Washington,
Beason told his audience that laser energy, the power sources and beam
control, as well as knowledge about how laser beams interact with
Earth's atmosphere, are quite mature technologies that are ready for
the shift into front-line warfare status.
"The good news is that directed energy exists. Directed energy is
being tested, and within a few years directed energy is going to be
deployed upon the battlefield," Beason reported. "But the bad news is
that acquisition policies right now in this nation are one more gear
toward evolutionary practices rather than revolutionary practices."
"Visionaries win wars … and not bureaucrats. We've seen this through
history," Beason observed.
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