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. The pain forces the person to flee the area. Its effective beam width is so small that it can be directed at individuals in a riot. Examples include damaging individual components, circuit cards, or the mother boards in a desktop computer. [19]GlobalSecurity.org, "High Power Microwave (HPM)/E-Bomb," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/hpm.htm (March 15, 2006). The Army used Navy-, and Air Force- developed HPM weapons during recent conflicts to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The system consists of a missile-detecting and tracking subsystem (MDT), a command and control system, and a scanning array. 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. DEW technology is changing faster than international laws and treaties can adapt. The Armys Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is now asked to make DE technology available to the warfighters as quickly as possible. 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. A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. [41] Vigilant Eagle was not mentioned on Raytheon's Web site in 2022. Some applications of directed energy weapons to solve todays challenges have already been described, such as stopping swarms of small adversary boats which have been harassing U.S. ships in international waters, or stopping vehicles carrying improvised explosive devices at a safe distance from U.S. personnel. 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). The release noted the HPM and HEL systems engaged and defeated dozens of unmanned aerial system targets during the exercise, The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator, or HEL MD, is the result of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command research. Discrete, mission-aligned efforts will maintain our pace of development in the race to get these technologies to the field. 7, No. Electronic devices can be shielded by putting conductive metal cages around them; however, enough microwave energy may still get through the shielding to damage the device. 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. This article will examine answers to these questions. 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. According to a legend, Archimedes created a mirror with an adjustable focal length (or more likely, a series of mirrors focused on a common point) to focus sunlight on ships of the Roman fleet as they invaded Syracuse, setting them on fire. In the next several years, the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force all plan to develop and field these weapons at an increasing pace. [1]On August 24, 2004, the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system destroyed a salvo of mortar rounds in midair during a test. Light is, for practical purposes, unaffected by, Lasers travel at light-speed and have long range, making them suitable for use in. 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. A DE weapon is a system using DE primarily as a direct means to disable, damage or destroy adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel. Particle-beam weapons can use charged or neutral particles, and can be either endoatmospheric or exoatmospheric. The DOD Office of Force Transformation (OFT), in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory, is developing the Tactical Relay Mirror System (TRMS), which would use a mirror system mounted on an aerostat or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to redirect the beams from laser weapons such as the ATL and ABL. HPM weapon technology is based on the same technology as radar devices, which already have a long history of research and development. General DOD policy is that directed-energy weapons can be used legitimately on the battlefield. Lieutenant General Henry Trey Obering, III, USAF (Ret. In addition, a laser shot (including the cost of producing the energy) is much cheaper than a shot from a chemical-powered weapon system. DEWs use the electromagnetic spectrum (light and radio energy) to attack pinpoint targets at the speed of light. Laser beams also lose energy through absorption or scattering if fired through dust, smoke, or rain. Another power source, well-suited to one-time use in an e-bomb, is the Explosively Pumped Flux Compression Generator (EPFCG). For example, when deployed, the anti-ballistic missile Airborne Laser will cost approximately $1,000 per shot. However, these lasers were generally large and heavy. However, directed-energy weapons (DEWs) are a reality, and several have already been tested under battlefield conditions. Research was also conducted on a mobile version of the THEL called the MTEL. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. However, risks, challenges and limitations remain. On August 24, 2004, the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system destroyed a salvo of mortar rounds in midair during a test. 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. 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/>. Lasers can be categorized as gas, solid state, or a hybrid of the two. While DEWs are not the solution to all combat situations, these technologies would provide the U.S. military with additional flexibility in tailoring its response to different types of threats. Zersetzung). 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 that do not apply to previous generations of conventional weapons. [38] The device comes in various sizes, including attached to a Humvee. This technology delivers very high-frequency millimeter-wavelength electromagnetic rays that heat skin on contact, causing a painful burning sensation. Boost glide weapons are launched atop ballistic missiles then released to glide to the target. They can be very effective in causing pressurized vessels to explode such as missile propellant and oxidizer tanks. As they become smaller, DEW weapons will first be vehicle-mounted and then possibly man-portable. [citation needed]. The Rheotron was captured by the Americans in Burggrub on April 14, 1945. In the later phases of World War II, Nazi Germany increasingly put its hopes on research into technologically revolutionary secret weapons, the Wunderwaffe. On land, this includes base defense, where DE can provide a deep magazine, long-range engagement, and low cost-per-shot against proliferated threats. (It had little detectable effect on malleable organs such as the heart, stomach and intestines.) [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). 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. 15 Office of the Secretary of Defense, Missile Defense Review, January 2019, available at < https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Interactive/2018/11-2019-Missile-Defense-Review/The%202019%20MDR_Executive%20Summary.pdf>. 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. 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. It suggested that lasers, perhaps space-based X-ray lasers, could destroy ICBMs in flight. It is developing a very high-power laser capable of being eventually deployed on a space-based platform to target missiles during their boost/ascent/midcourse phase. A composite image of a satellite firing an energy weapon at a target on Earth. The idea of damage is to inflict moderate injury on enemy communications facilities, weapons systems, and subsystems hardware, and to do so in order to incapacitate the enemy for a certain time. 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 that do not apply to previous generations of conventional weapons. [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. 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. Directed energy is a breakthrough technology whose time has come. 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. Depending on the type of laser, this means that the weapon can have an almost "endless magazine" of laser bursts. Andrew Gudgel, a former Army Warrant Officer, is currently a freelance writer. and Like lasers, HPM weapons can operate in a pulsed or continuous manner and are classified using peak or average power respectively. However, directed-energy weapons (DEWs) are a reality, and several have already been tested under battlefield conditions. Among the directed-energy weapons the Nazis investigated were X-ray beam weapons developed under Heinz Schmellenmeier, Richard Gans and Fritz Houtermans. [86], Also, "directed-energy weapons that target the central nervous system and cause neurophysiological disorders may violate the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980. In 2017, the Air Force Secretary and Chief of Staff signed the DE Flight Plan outlining the path ahead for the Air Force to develop and deploy both high-energy lasers and high-power RF weapons for its aircraft. [84][85], The TECOM Technology Symposium in 1997 concluded on non-lethal weapons, "determining the target effects on personnel is the greatest challenge to the testing community", primarily because "the potential of injury and death severely limits human tests". Electrical blooming occurs only in charged particle beams, as ions of like charge repel one another. When directed at humans, a microwave weapon causes atoms to vibrate, which in turn generates heat. [18], Paired with a microwave generator, an EPFCG could produce an ultrashort, intense microwave burst. Are these weapons still science fiction, lab experiments, or are they real? The term deny is defined as the ability to eliminate the enemys ability to operate without inflicting harm on the system. This damage may create permanent effects depending upon the severity of the attack and the ability of the enemy to diagnose, replace, or repair the affected systems. These data are then passed on to the mirror system, which makes appropriate corrections so that, when the COIL fires, maximum energy is transmitted to the target. 1, 2018, available at < https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/03/21/us-army-successfully-demos-laser-weapon-on-stryker-in-europe/>. 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. Most HPM systems are based on short pulses of radiofrequency (RF) energy, for which peak power is the important metric. [61][62], Stories in the 1930s and World War Two gave rise to the idea of an "engine-stopping ray". During the Iraq War, electromagnetic weapons, including high power microwaves, were used by the U.S. military to disrupt and destroy Iraqi electronic systems and may have been used for crowd control. Funding has been cut to both of the programs. [55] The power of the sound beam which LRADs produce is sufficient to penetrate vehicles and buildings while retaining a high degree of fidelity, so that verbal messages can be conveyed clearly in some situations. 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. [6], Because they were invented several decades ago, lasers are the most mature of the DEW technologies. 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. 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. For continuous wave systems, which use high average power to effect targets, levels are typically from 50 to 100s of kilowatts up to several megawatts of power. However, Boeing has been somewhat successful with the Boeing YAL-1 and Boeing NC-135, the first of which destroyed two missiles in February 2010. In effect, the United States would have provided stealth-like capability to entire fleets of aircraft. [20], 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. 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]. Particle beams would have tremendous power as weapons. For example, a recent test of a solid-state laser by Northrop Grumman produced a continuous 27-kilowatt beam that lasted just under six minutes. The sensation increases in intensity until the affected individual moves out of the beam or it is shut off. 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. It turned out that during its three-year deployment, from 201114, it was used nearly around the clock in its ISR mode. In the 1951 science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, powerful ray guns are shown vaporizing rifles and even tanks. Various morally flexible, highly educated professionals provide their services to the states most probably lured by utilitarian gains and acting not only against the law, but against any moral value, their Ippocratical oath and other professional ethics. They have been used on several occasions to repel pirate attacks by sending warnings and by producing intolerable levels of sound. Though the strategic missile defense concept has continued to the present under the Missile Defense Agency, most of the directed-energy weapon concepts were shelved. The THEL system uses radar to detect and track incoming targets. 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. From the Stone Age until the Middle Ages, a weapon's power was limited by the strength of the man wielding it or, in the case of bows, by the strength of material from which it was made. [6]GlobalSecurity.org, "Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/patriot-ac-3.htm (March 15, 2006). Havana syndrome is a set of medical symptoms reported by US personnel in Havana, Cuba and other locations, suspected by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to be caused by microwave energy. So, for a hypersonic weapon that is travelling at 25 times the speed of sound, a high- energy laser can engage it at roughly 35,000 times its speed. They are real and are maturing rapidly. There is no injury to the target individual. Light and repetitive visual signals can induce epileptic seizures. 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. PRISM. 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. 8, No. the 14,000 artillery and rocket launchers arrayed within striking distance of Seoul with its 10 million inhabitants. The manufacturer states that the weapon can disrupt remote control, the transmission of video at 2.4 and 5 GHz, and GPS and Glonass satellite navigation signals. Laser energy can be generated as a continuous wave or in pulses, which also influences its lethality. 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. two directional speakers emitting 16,000 Hz and 16,002 Hz frequencies would produce in the ear two frequencies of 32,002 Hz and 2 Hz. In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. Richert Seifert & Co from Hamburg delivered parts. In this manner someone could be debilitated even though they were no longer imprisoned. [13], A related project is the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) system, which uses a less powerful version of the ABL's COIL laser, instead of missiles, to attack ground targets. U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, "High-Power Microwaves," fact sheet, September 2002, at, Dr. Stephen Adams, "Electrical Power and Thermal Management for Airborne Directed Energy Weapons," U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, September 2001, at, Carlo Kopp, "The Electromagnetic Bomb-A Weapon of Electrical Mass Destruction," at, GlobalSecurity.org, "High Power Microwave (HPM)/E-Bomb," at, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, "Active Denial System," fact sheet, September 2005, at, Press release, "Northrop Grumman Surpasses Power, Run-Time Requirements of Joint High Power Solid-State Laser Program for Military Use," Northrop Grumman Corporation, November 9, 2005, at, China North Industries Corporation, "ZM-87 Portable Laser Disturber Fact Sheet," quoted in Human Rights Watch, "Blinding Laser Weapons: The Need to Ban a Cruel and Inhumane Weapon," September 1995, at, "Electromagnetic Weapons: Come Fry with Me,", David Ruppe, "Directed-Energy Weapons: Possible U.S. Use Against Iraq Could Threaten International Regimes," Global Security Newswire, Russias New START Breach Means U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization Is a Must, North Koreas Growing ICBM Threat: How America and South Korea Should Respond, China Surpasses U.S. in Nuclear Missile Launchers; U.S. Unprepared to Deter Growing Threat. A directed-energy weapon ( DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. The Air Force Research Lab's Propulsion Directorate has studied using generators that use high-temperature superconducting wire and high-voltage capacitors. getty. However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. EM launchers use electrical energy to throw a mass at a target, thus making them distinct from directed energy. 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]. 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. 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at . Semiconductors and modern electronics are particularly susceptible to HPM attacks. [8]"Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program.". The United States must realize that it has to resource the development and fielding of these capabilities. -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. In 1999, the modern German state was investigating the possibility that this X-ray equipment was being used as weaponry and that it was a deliberate policy of the Stasi to attempt to give prisoners radiation poisoning, and thereby cancer, through the use of directed X-rays. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices. These waves penetrate only a few millimeters into the skin and cause the sensation of heat. 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. However, the first working laser was not built until 1960, opening an entirely new avenue of directed-energy research. A14.5 kHz E V2K 28-Dec-8927-Oct-92Oliver M. LoweryOliver M. LoweryPresents subliminal auditory information to the human via remotely applied waves US 5356368 A4-212 Hz MK 1-Mar-9118-Oct-94Robert A. MonroeInterstate Industries Inc. (dba Monroe Products)Method of and apparatus for inducing . , 2019, available at . What exactly is a directed energy weapon? The system generates a focused beam of energy at the frequency of 95 gigahertz. They are not "weapons of mass destruction," but they have the potential to . 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. Directed energy weapons are no longer just science fiction. 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 distinction between them is the wavelength/frequency of the energy. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. 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. At 200 yards away, body temperature increases from the normal 98.6 F to 107 F. At closer range, the temperature increase can be even higher, and is lethal. 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. These high-speed missiles fly at Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) and greater. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. [16] When the microwave energy encounters unshielded wires or electronic components, it induces a current in them, which causes the equipment to malfunction. In the 1970s and '80s it became the primary method of repressing domestic 'hostile-negative'[73] forces. 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. Thus, the deny capability is not permanent because the affected systems can be easily restored to their previous operational condition. 12 Jen Judson, U.S. Examples of this cited earlier included the Airborne Laser, the Navys LaWS program, and others. A microwave weapon can achieve this result by causing malfunctions within certain relay and processing circuits within the enemy target system. 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.
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