The US Military is developing the use of Directed Energy (DE) to make a force field that will stop Chinese or Russian missiles. This Star Wars futuristic technology is to counter the high-tech weapons America expects its near-peers to use in a future war, especially hypersonic missiles with nuke warheads.
On Tuesday, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) said in a report about the potential possibilities with DE. The idea seems like taking a page from a sci-fi flick. It sounded interesting just by a solid beam of localizing electromagnetic energy and using it for defensive weapons or controlling light mass to create a powerful and effective weapon.
An innovative technology that uses manipulated energy for a dense shield like an impenetrable wall will block or set off nukes.
The development of Directed Energy would be complex
Kinetic weapons of this type include lasers, radiofrequency weapons, powerful microwave shooters, and powerful particle beams. These will prevent problems with electronics and will not cause people to get sick.
Most sinister of the applications are weapons meant to deceive and destroy, or in the league of death rays like in Star Wars, reported the Sun UK.
The AFRL predicts that developing a tech using DE is a futuristic force barrier. This is difficult to produce and elemental for keeping a rain of missiles from hitting.
Generating the barrier made of DE would require high-powered trucks and satellites that fire lasers in the group; each will be linked to a segment that will create a large dome to cover the entirety of America. The use of directed energy (DE) to make a force field could be one advantage to diminish the efficacy of missile attacks.
The development of Directed Energy is the 'tipping point' or the key to winning future wars.
The DE technology is the highlight in winning future wars
As a defensive weapon, an energy barrier can transmit high energy emissions; when reached by a missile or any military weapon, it will disintegrate.
The report's title, Directed Energy Futures 2026, stating it has reached a highlight to develop any DE technology. Any military force without it would be at a disadvantage, making it crucial for the US to be the leader. It hints that a DE weapon that generates a force barrier is tantalizingly close to being developed than anyone thinks.
One of the scientists in the AFRL, Jeremy Murray-Krezan, remarked that the technology is very innovative and nothing sci-fi-ish yet. He said it might be closer.
In 2020, these DE systems were very experimental, but they will be more relevant with more development in 2060. A military outfit equipped with it is something to be reckoned with, said the AFRL scientist.
Murray-Krezan added that getting an impenetrable barrier to stop a nuclear missile might be developed, and there is a good chance by 2060.
Noted in the AFRL report is that manipulated energy or DE is used in present-day systems by military forces, except it is not so destructive and on the passive application.
Projected energy is focused on tracking missiles, detecting adversaries, tracking, scrambling the frequencies used for counterintelligence search and recon (ISR), and using wavelengths to scramble radar and radio signals.
Between 2020 to 2060 will be the crucial period to ramp up DE tech, said the report. For now, it is a bit fresh; it takes time to master new technology. Murray-Krezan added that destruction is not a necessity for a military operation to be successful.
It would be foolish for the US to ignore developing directed energy weapons (DEWs) and tolerate the potential of adversaries. Directed energy weaponry is the next generation of tactical warfare.
The final goal is to use directed energy (DE) to make a force field the best defensive option to stop adversaries' missiles, noted Army Technology.
