There’s no shortage of U.S. military interest in battlefield lasers and other directed-energy weapons. From truck-mounted lasers to high-powered microwaves that take down small drones, the Army, Navy, and Air Force are all exploring the possibilities. But congressional leaders say for all that interest, the technology’s not getting into the field fast enough.
The $200 million the Senate bill provides could be used to prototype various directed energy weapons at the assistant secretary’s discretion, it highlights several “specific missions in which directed energy could provide solutions to capability gaps,” including fighting off UAVs, rockets, artillery, and mortars.
“We’ve done a lot of microwave work on the side of being able to send in a cruise missile that knocks out electronics,” Heinrich said. “That is just as important as the counter-UAV mission. Both of them are pretty critical at the moment.”
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other labs are making moves to test directed energy weapons to tackle these solutions. DARPA just announced a competition to demonstrate systems that could take down swarms of drones a kilometer away.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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I hope DARPA blows up into specs of pieces!! I have a victim of their military Neuroweapon EMF Directed Enegy Weapon Brain Torture Abuse targeting my brain via theft of my DNA which was uploaded to a Satelitte to signal connect to drones by the swarm. These drones TORTURE me 24/7/365! It has been 5 years of Crimes Against Humanity Brain torture! I am a NAFTA participant from OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada residing in the dusgusting criminal false flag black operation capital nation of the world; USA. I hate the military of this country! They make me sick to my stomach!! ISIS is a creation of the Disgusting CIA. Funded by the CIA & fought by the CIA just so they keep their military industrial intelligence congressional complex fat & Rich! They already have directed microwave energy weapons a long time ago and using them to covertly torture thousands of people in the USA and the NATO member nations are forced to buy this crap and CIA & NSA operative trained to hurt people & to gangstalk, harass and harm in slow kill deaths. DARPA is a disgracful agency that deserves to blown off the planet!! These military manufacturers are murderers and sick in the head!!! A DISGRACE!!!!