directed energy weapons on humans

These weapons were considered for both land and space-based systems. This concentrated energy can have effects across the entire spectrum from non-lethal to lethal. [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". 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. They seemed to have arisen from the testing of the television transmitter in Feldberg, Germany. For ex. Design specifications are already being determined. [13]SPG Media, "ABL YAL 1A Airborne Laser, USA," at http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/abl (March 15, 2006). These waves penetrate only a few millimeters into the skin and cause the sensation of heat. In fact, the megawatt-class Airborne Laser developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s required an entire 747 aircraft to hold the equipment. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. The full system will be fitted to the aircraft by 2007 and test-fired against ground targets. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 22:00. 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. This information is then transferred to an optical tracking system, which refines the target tracking and positions the beam director. In this last factor, the frequency of the laser and the engagement altitude will have a significant impact on how much the atmosphere effects the lasers lethality. Authors: PRISM. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. DEWs use the electromagnetic spectrum (light and radio energy) to attack pinpoint targets at the speed of light. The intent was to pre-ionize ignition in aircraft engines and hence serve as anti-aircraft DEW and bring planes down into the reach of the flak. The EPFCG uses chemical explosives to compress an electrically charged coil. 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. In an electrolaser, twin laser beams create an ionized channel inside the atmosphere, which conducts electricity. In addition to being able to scale effects on a target, directed energy weapons have inherent attributes that are attractive to the warfighter. With the ever-increasing use of electronics in weapons systems, HPM devices could have a devastating but nonlethal effect on the battlefield. [37] Some examples of weapons which have been publicized by the military are as follows: Active Denial System is a millimeter wave source that heats the water in a human target's skin and thus causes incapacitating pain. When directed-energy weapons are mentioned, most people think of "death rays" or Hollywood's latest science fiction movie. 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. The United States cannot allow itself to fall behind in yet another area of warfighting as has happened in hypersonics. They have strong physical and psychological effects and can be used for military and terrorist activities. In early versions of laser weapons, the light was generated by chemical reactions. The humanitarian community is also concerned about the long-term biological effects of DEWs (microwaves in particular) and their possible use against civilian targets.[25]. 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. Artilleri-Tidskrift (22009): s. s 1215. The deuterium fluoride chemical laser fires, hitting the rocket or shell and causing it to explode far short of its intended target. Directed Energy Weapon / Targeted Individual Patents . For high energy lasers, lethality depends on the power output of the laser, the purity and concentration of the light (beam quality), the target range, the ability to keep the laser on the target aimpoint (jitter control and tracking), and the atmospheric environment the laser traverses to the target. 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 Department of Defense Joint Publication 3-13.1, Electronic Warfare (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2012). 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. Additional information on How Lasers Work, is available on the Lawrence Livermore National Lab website, . Certain types of particle beams have the advantage of being self-focusing in the atmosphere. Today, Directed Energy weapons are being developed by the US and its adversaries for land, sea, and air and space applications. There are two types of hypersonic weapons, boost glide and air-launched high-speed cruise missiles. 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. This information is then transferred to an optical tracking system, which refines the target tracking and positions the beam director. The pain forces the person to flee the area. HPM weapons have also been considered for use as nonlethal "heat ray" systems for crowd control. (Washington D.C.: Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2018). 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. True support for a program is often best measured by the resources that an organization is willing to devote to it. [42][43][44], The effective radiated power (ERP) of the EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar makes it a hypothetical candidate for conversion into a directed-energy weapon, by focusing pulses of radar energy on target missiles. The Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal directed-energy weapon developed by the U.S. military, designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control. Furthermore, the power of lasers and microwave weapons has decreased, allowing for nonlethal uses. It suggested that lasers, perhaps space-based X-ray lasers, could destroy ICBMs in flight. Since the invention of gunpowder, a weapon's effectiveness has no longer depended on the wielder's strength, but on the chemical energy of the propellant or explosive. (Courtesy photo), The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator, or HEL MD, is the result of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command research (U.S. Army), The premier professional military and academic publishing house. The system consists of a missile-detecting and tracking subsystem (MDT), a command and control system, and a scanning array. These high-speed missiles fly at Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) and greater. Types and magnitudes of exposure to electromagnetic fields are unknown.[78]. 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. 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. Lasers are becoming smaller and more powerful. (Invented by Max Steenbeck at Siemens-Schuckert in the 1930s, these were later called Betatrons by the Americans.) [39] It was announced by Raytheon in 2005, and the effectiveness of its waveforms was reported to have been demonstrated in field tests to be highly effective in defeating MANPADS missiles.[40]. One of the greatest attributes of directed energy weapons is that they operate at the speed of light. How can they be used and how disruptive can they be? Blooming is also a problem in particle-beam weapons. The skin of the missile heats up, melts, and deforms, and the target breaks up in midair. This also includes fundamental differences such as the wavelength of the lasers and the beam quality required for success. [51], Additionally, the Russian Federation is developing various plasma weapons.[52]. [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. For example, as mentioned earlier, directed energy weapons development can take advantage of progress being made in commercial industry around processors, power generation and management and even lasers subsystems themselves. A prototype ADS system mounted on a Humvee went into testing in August 2005.[22]. The release noted the HPM and HEL systems engaged and defeated dozens of unmanned aerial system targets during the exercise.14. This causes the beam to lose focus, dissipating its power. The U.S. military has developed an Active Denial System that aims microwaves at people to cause pain without injury. Research was also conducted on a mobile version of the THEL called the MTEL. Directional sound. 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. Particle-beam weapons can use charged or neutral particles, and can be either endoatmospheric or exoatmospheric. More importantly, peer and near-peer nations are developing these weapons at an alarming rate. Because they were invented several decades ago, lasers are the most mature of the DEW technologies. Laser light can be produced by a number of different methods, ranging from rods of chemically doped glass to energetic chemical reactions to semiconductors. On land, this includes base defense, where DE can provide a deep magazine, long-range engagement, and low cost-per-shot against proliferated threats. [18]Carlo Kopp, "The Electromagnetic Bomb-A Weapon of Electrical Mass Destruction," at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1996/apjemp.htm (March 15, 2006). [21], A demonstration system was tested at Kirtland Air Force Base in 2000. [8], In August 2004, the THEL system shot down multiple mortar rounds during testing. The short, intense bursts of energy produced by HPM devices damage equipment without injuring personnel. The word laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Similar in principle to the microwave oven, the weapons produce energies in the megawatt range. The effects can be latent, durable, highly disruptive and attribution is difficult. Funding has been cut to both of the programs. In contrast, ordinary visible light comprises multiple wavelengths and is not coherent. 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. [63], During the early 1940s Axis engineers developed a sonic cannon that could cause fatal vibrations in its target body. 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. High-power microwave (HPM) and high-power millimeter wave weapons emit beams of electromagnetic energy typically from about 10 megahertz to the 100 gigahertz frequency range. DEW technology and its enabling infrastructure have matured to the point that DEWs can begin moving from the lab to the battlefield. 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. HPM weapon technology is based on the same technology as radar devices, which already have a long history of research and development. 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