directed energy weapons on humans

[46] Potentially lethal effects are produced only inside 100 meters range, and disruptive effects at distances on the order of one kilometer. [38] The device comes in various sizes, including attached to a Humvee. Imagine how much the geopolitical calculus would change on the peninsula if a layered, integrated system of high energy lasers and high-power microwave weapons was deployed to defend against these threats. The United States will soon be reaching the point where it can generate a megawatt of power in a size, weight, and volume capable of being put on a high-altitude aircraft or space-based platform. Though intended to cause severe pain while leaving no lasting damage, concern has been voiced as to whether the system could cause irreversible damage to the eyes. DEW technology is changing faster than international laws and treaties can adapt. 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. 11, Air War College Center for Strategy and Technology, May 2000. The soldier returned a short time later to say that the engine would now work and the tourists drove off. The countries abandoned particle-beam weapon research as impracticable.[3]. [49] Improvements in energy-generating systems may also make particle-beam weapons feasible. 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. These waves penetrate only a few millimeters into the skin and cause the sensation of heat. For example, when deployed, the anti-ballistic missile Airborne Laser will cost approximately $1,000 per shot. These weapons were considered for both land and space-based systems. The short, intense bursts of energy produced by HPM devices damage equipment without injuring personnel. A high-voltage electrical charge is then fed into one of the laser beams, striking the target. A prototype ADS system mounted on a Humvee went into testing in August 2005. [10], Once tracked by the TILL, the BILL measures the atmospheric distortion between the COIL and the missile. True support for a program is often best measured by the resources that an organization is willing to devote to it. Directed Energy Weapon / Targeted Individual Patents . A DE weapon is a system using DE primarily as a direct means to disable, damage or destroy adversary equipment, facilities, and personnel. 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. 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. [86], Also, "directed-energy weapons that target the central nervous system and cause neurophysiological disorders may violate the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980. [65], The Central Intelligence Agency informed Secretary Henry Kissinger that it had twelve reports of Soviet forces using laser weapons against Chinese forces during the 1969 Sino-Soviet border clashes, though William Colby doubted that they had actually been employed. HPM weapons lethality is typically described in terms of their ability to deny, degrade, damage or destroy a targets capabilities. 2 According to the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. 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. 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). "Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program,", Richard M. Roberds, Ph.D., "Introducing the Particle-Beam Weapon,", GlobalSecurity.org, "Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)," at, Bill Gertz, "N. Korea Fired Laser at Troops,", "Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. Some common bio-effects of non-lethal electromagnetic weapons include: Interference with breathing poses the most significant, potentially lethal results. Laser beams also lose energy through absorption or scattering if fired through dust, smoke, or rain. They were seen as tools for destroying ICBMs and drones, or for dispersing rioters. One of the greatest attributes of directed energy weapons is that they operate at the speed of light. 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. So how close are they to becoming weaponized? Modern battlefield weapons are the descendents of muskets and cannon. There is no injury to the target individual. Reversing the order of events in retelling the story created a "tale" where tourists car engine stopped first and then were approached by a German soldier who told them that they had to wait. The Beacon Illuminator Laser system, which measures and corrects for atmospheric distortion, has also been shipped to Boeing for testing. [54] They range in size from small, portable handheld units which can be strapped to a person's chest, to larger models which require a mount. They have been used on several occasions to repel pirate attacks by sending warnings and by producing intolerable levels of sound. A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy, including laser, microwaves and particle As defined by Direct Energy Weapons Agency is any weapon, device or electronic that uses any kind of energy to disable, harass, assault, incapacitate another human being, an enemy's weapons, their equipment, hideouts, etc. [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). As with all new weapons, the DOD General Counsel reviews each DEW for compliance with international and U.S. laws before the Pentagon is allowed to field it. 14 Oriana Powlyk, Raytheon Directed-Energy Weapons Down Drones in Air Force Demonstration, Military.com, May 1, 2019, available at . One of the greatest attributes of directed energy weapons is that they operate at the speed of light. Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. In the Star Wars movies, a wide variety of directed energy weapons are depicted, from handheld light sabers to massive, spaceship-mounted laser cannons. At higher energy levels, the microwaves can permanently "burn out" equipment, much as a close lightning strike could. They are not the answer to all the challenges, and will not replace kinetic weapons, but they are an essential adjunct to countering specific threats and providing dominance in land, air, sea, and space. The pain forces the person to flee the area. getty. Certain types of particle beams have the advantage of being self-focusing in the atmosphere. Researchers with AFRL use the Guidestar laser for real-time, high-fidelity tracking and imaging of satellites too faint for conventional adaptive optical imaging systems. 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). can affect a lasers performance but there are ways to address these phenomena. [11], The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. While the development costs of directed energy systems can be high, there are several factors in play which can reduce these costs or at least provide better return on the investment over the life cycle. While centuries of technological advances have improved the power of these materials, the basic operating principle of chemical-powered weapons ultimately remains the same. 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. The virtual inaudibility of the equipment is said to produce a "spooky" psychological effect. 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. This type of weapon shows great potential as a riot-control device or area-denial system. In addition, controllers can vary the strength of the energy put on a target, unlike a bullet or exploding bomb, allowing for nonlethal uses. ), is an Executive Vice President and Directed Energy Lead at Booz Allen Hamilton and the former Director of the Missile Defense Agency. It stated that it did have, however, an 'ultra-loud public address system which [] could be "used for verbal communication over two miles, or put out a sustained or modulated sound blanket to make conversation, and thus crowd organisation, impossible. 1, Air War College Center for Strategy and Technology, May 2000. 7 David M. Sowders et al., High Power Microwave (HPM) and Ultrawideband (UWB): A Primer on High Power RF, PL-TR-95-1111, Special Report, Phillips Laboratory, March 1996, 76. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. HPM weapons have also been considered for use as nonlethal "heat ray" systems for crowd control. The meaning of degrade is to remove the enemys ability to operate and to potentially inflict minimal injury on electronic hardware systems. In fact, the megawatt-class Airborne Laser developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s required an entire 747 aircraft to hold the equipment. 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. The countries abandoned particle-beam weapon research as impracticable. The laser light is coherent in a single color, and the flashlight is broad-spectrum light. 019, available at < https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Interactive/2018/11-2019-Missile-Defense-Review/The%202019%20MDR_Executive%20Summary.pdf>. 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. However, the Army felt the fixed-base laser system was too large and cut funding for the program after the demonstration phase. [58] The hosts of MythBusters tackled the Mirrors of Archimedes three times (in episodes 19, 57 and 172) and were never able to make the target ship catch fire, declaring the myth busted three separate times. When a laser beam strikes a target, the energy from the photons in the beam heats the target to the point of combustion or melting. For example, a Navy ship-to-air laser will have different requirements than an Air Force air-to-air system, which will have different requirements than a space-based missile defense system and therefore different technological considerations. [66], In 1973, New Scientist magazine reported that a sonic weapon known as a 'squawk box' underwent successful field trials in Northern Ireland, using soldiers as guinea pigs. "Mobile/Tactical High Energy Laser (M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program," Defense Update, at http://www.defense-update.com/directory/THEL.htm (March 10, 2006). However, the first working laser was not built until 1960, opening an entirely new avenue of directed-energy research. [18], Paired with a microwave generator, an EPFCG could produce an ultrashort, intense microwave burst. The article states: 'The squawk box is highly directional which gives it its appeal. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices. 1 Department of Defense Joint Publication 3-13.1, Electronic Warfare (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2012). For other uses, see, Northern Ireland "squawk box" field trials. HPM weapon technology is based on the same technology as radar devices, which already have a long history of research and development. 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. On land, this includes base defense, where DE can provide a deep magazine, long-range engagement, and low cost-per-shot against proliferated threats. 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. Albert Einstein described the theoretical underpinnings of lasers in 1917. They hurt and kill with electromagnetic power. Particle-beam weapons can use charged or neutral particles, and can be either endoatmospheric or exoatmospheric. 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 U.S. Army has also been moving out aggressively in developing and deploying directed energy weapons as part of its Air and Missile Defense modernization priority. 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. The effects can be latent, durable, highly disruptive and attribution is difficult. [79][80] However, this story is comprehensively denied by the crew members of STS-41-G and knowledgeable members of the US intelligence community. These include: Directed energy weapons have been in development for decades in our nations research and development organizations, national laboratories and industry. The electrical shock is enough to stun personnel, detonate improvised explosive devices, or destroy electronic equipment. The SOR's world-class adaptive optics telescope is the second largest telescope in the Department of Defense. There is no injury to the target individual. [1] They may begin to appear on the battlefield within the next decade, bringing a revolution in weapons and how war is waged. Millimeter waveband energy can penetrate human skin to a very shallow depth, heating the tissue below. These devices have also been demonstrated to stall or damage car, truck, or boat motors. The Defense Department and Congress should start to fund promising and proven DEW technology so that promising weapon systems can move from the lab to the battlefield where they can help military personnel. 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. The only question is whether the United States and its allies will achieve that dominance before an adversary does. There are two types of hypersonic weapons, boost glide and air-launched high-speed cruise missiles. The megawatt-class laser was tested at full power in early 2006. . Because of its coherence, laser light can stay concentrated for very long distanceseven thousands of miles into space. Retrieved 2010-01-04. Andrew Gudgel, a former Army Warrant Officer, is currently a freelance writer. High-power microwave (HPM) weapons work by producing either beams or short bursts of high-frequency radio energy. [59][60] He and colleague Arnold Wilkins quickly concluded that it was not feasible, but as a consequence suggested using radio for the detection of aircraft and this started the development of radar in Britain. The scanning array projects microwaves that disrupt the surface-to-air missile's guidance system, deflecting it from the aircraft. 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. When these waves interact with a person, they pass through the skin and transfer energy to the water that lies just under the surface. 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. When using laser weapons, the warfighters will need new situational awareness and battle management tools because of the potential long-range effects to avoid friendly systems fratricide. [15]Colonel Craig Hughes, Office of Force Transformation, U.S. Department of Defense, "Re-directed Energy: the Tactical Relay Mirror System," presentation at The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., February 13, 2006. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. In March 2003, North Korea may have used a ZM-87 to "paint" two U.S. Apache helicopters patrolling the Demilitarized Zone. Today, solid state electrical (including fiber) and hybrid lasers are being developed that are much lighter and smaller. 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. Think of the difference between a laser pointer and a flashlight. 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. Today, Directed Energy weapons are being developed by the US and its adversaries for land, sea, and air and space applications. Boeing has received a C-130H transport aircraft from the Air Force and is modifying it for installation of the laser system. This makes targeting and tracking easier as well. This produces a burning pain without actually damaging the tissue. In this case, the laser weapon system would sense the atmospheric conditions to the target, then using fast steering mirrors, it would deform the main laser beam as it leaves the weapon to use the atmosphere to the target much like the lens of a pair of glasses to refocus the beam on the target. However, current research focuses on using them as a means of nonlethal area defense and as anti-electronic weapons rather than as "death rays.". However, considerable work still needs to be done before they can be deployed. 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. The command and control system determines the missile launch point. 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. Microwave weapons can be aimed at computers, electronical devices and persons. There is no silver bullet defense against these weapons and in fact there will have to be an architectural approach in defending against them, but directed energy weapons can potentially play a major role. By Henry Trey Obering, III In March 2003, North Korea may have used a ZM-87 to "paint" two U.S. Apache helicopters patrolling the Demilitarized Zone.[7]. [81] After the end of the Cold War, the Terra-3 facility was found to be a low-power laser testing site with limited satellite tracking capabilities, which is now abandoned and partially disassembled. low-cost per shot compared to traditional munitions. 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. [3]Richard M. Roberds, Ph.D., "Introducing the Particle-Beam Weapon," Air University Review, July-August 1984, at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1984/jul-aug/roberds.html (March 15, 2006). The system generates a focused beam of energy at the frequency of 95 gigahertz. [24] Would the permanent blinding of a soldier struck by a ZM-87's laser beam be considered intentional or accidental? They are well-suited to defending against threats such as missiles and artillery shells, which DEWs can shoot down in mid-flight. For example, the static and distortion that high voltage power lines have on a car radio causes no lasting damage to the radio after the car leaves the area. Because of the strategic imperative to protect U.S. carrier battlegroups to enable us to project power, the U.S. Navy is following this prototyping effort with a much broader Navy Laser Family of Systems or NLFoS program, which will put the Navy on a path to develop and deploy lasers ranging from low power laser dazzlers to much higher power lasers capable of destroying anti-ship and high-speed cruise missiles. Depending on the particulars of the weapon, and how it is used, ERP levels can reach into the hundreds of gigawatts or higher. "'[68][69], In East Germany in the 1960s, many people were arrested and interrogated for holding politically incorrect views or for performing actions deemed hostile by the ruling socialist state. In an electrolaser, twin laser beams create an ionized channel inside the atmosphere, which conducts electricity. The number of "shots" a laser weapon can produce is limited only by its power supply.
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