Directed energy weapons

A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon system that inflicts damage at a target by emission of highly focused energy.

Potential applications of this technology include anti-personnel weapon systems, missile defense system, and the disabling of lightly armored vehicles or mounted optical devices.

The Pentagon, DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Naval Research Laboratory are researching technologies like directed-energy weapons and railguns to counter maturing threats posed by fast missiles such as ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles, and hypersonic glide vehicles. These systems of missile defense are expected to come online in the mid to late-2020s.

Russia, China, India, and the United Kingdom are also developing directed-energy weapons.

Directed energy weapons could have several main advantages over conventional weaponry:

Although some devices are labelled as microwave weapons, the microwave range is commonly defined as being between 300 MHz and 300 GHz which is within the RF range. Some examples of weapons which have been publicized by the military are as follows:

An electrolaser first ionizes its target path, and then sends a powerful electric current down the conducting track of ionized plasma, somewhat like lightning. It functions as a giant, high-energy, long-distance version of the Taser or stun gun.

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