Post by L5Resident on Mar 26, 2018 14:25:47 GMT
From an Article from Aviation Week!
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Mar 21, 2018
The Pentagon’s under secretary of defense for research and engineering wants to bring particle-beam weapons back into vogue.
A type of directed-energy weapon, neutral particle beam accelerators were a key component of the Reagan administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative of the late-1980s before falling out of favor. Despite some exploratory programs in the mid-1990s, the U.S. Defense Department (DOD) has not fully exploited this technology, says Michael Griffin.
Speaking at the Booz Allen Hamilton/Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Directed Energy Summit in Washington on March 21, Griffin announced that he intends to expand the range of directed energy weapons the department pursues, to include technologies pioneered in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Directed energy is more than just big lasers,” Griffin says, while specifically calling out particle-beam devices that accelerate atomic and subatomic particles close to the speed of light. When weaponized, those particles are directed toward a target, which overheats and breaks down through mass bombardment.
“In the heyday of directed energy, we were working on high-power microwaves, several flavors of lasers, and neutral particle beam weapons. Each of these systems has its own advantages and disadvantages,” he said.
Griffin has been charged with shaping the DOD’s technology strategy and says his mission is to restore the technological advantage to the U.S. after years of erosion.
Having served under the first three directors of the former Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (now the Missile Defense Agency), Griffin’s approach to his new role is shaped by years of cutting-edge work on technologies that had previously been considered science fiction.
“We won’t win in a man-to-man fight. We need to have the technological leverage,” Griffin says. “We should not lose our way with the other technologies that were pioneered in the late-1980s and early-1990s and now stand available for renewed effort.”
Griffin says the DOD dropped the ball with directed energy development. But that is now changing as the world enters a new era of “superpower competition,” in which China and Russia seek to undermine the U.S.’s position. He says the department is ready to “put its money where its mouth is” and will identify 10 core technologies for greater investment. One of those is light-speed directed energy weapons for kinetic and non-lethal effects, including high-power microwave energy weapons.
Griffin is uneasy with the pace of technology development overseas, particularly in China, saying the U.S. has fallen behind in some areas. He encourages the U.S. scientific and industrial community to “work harder and run faster” to regain lost ground.
During his presentation, Griffin addressed several others issues, including the department’s choice of lasers. He recalls that within hours of assuming office in February, factions within the military scientific community began lobbying him about whether to back the diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) championed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory or the fiber beam-combining type being pursued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory. Both sides want continued funding.
Griffin says the military should continue to pursue both types, since they each continue to increase in power and efficiency.
“I’ve looked at both and find them both promising,” he says. “I’d urge us to keep a lot of arrows in our quiver as we go forward.”
On laser weapons for boost-phase missile defense, Griffin says that technology is still a long way from delivering operational capability. Nearer-term, he says there may be opportunities to use air-launched interceptors to destroy threatening missiles as they ascend through the atmosphere. This could require the U.S. to maintain airborne patrols that can rapidly respond to threats around nations such as North Korea or Iran.
“I’m concerned about exactly how high you have to be in the atmosphere to have a laser beam with sufficient intensity to score a kill at a reasonable range. Some say you can, some say you can’t. The jury is still out,” he explains. “I’m not uninterested in boost-phase directed energy. It’s just not right here, right now.”
In an apparent signal to the department, Griffin says the U.S. does not have to go down this path alone, and there are opportunities to collaborate with allies and partners on directed energy programs, with the right authorizations and approvals.
“We want to take advantage of the brainpower that our traditional allies and partners can offer in the development of these technologies,” he says. “Where there are opportunities, I’ll be looking for careful and measured, but very real, cooperation. In the long run, that will benefit us.”
SDI is coming back effectively and there will be some amazing new technologies coming in the 6-10 years!
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Mar 21, 2018
The Pentagon’s under secretary of defense for research and engineering wants to bring particle-beam weapons back into vogue.
A type of directed-energy weapon, neutral particle beam accelerators were a key component of the Reagan administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative of the late-1980s before falling out of favor. Despite some exploratory programs in the mid-1990s, the U.S. Defense Department (DOD) has not fully exploited this technology, says Michael Griffin.
Speaking at the Booz Allen Hamilton/Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Directed Energy Summit in Washington on March 21, Griffin announced that he intends to expand the range of directed energy weapons the department pursues, to include technologies pioneered in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Directed energy is more than just big lasers,” Griffin says, while specifically calling out particle-beam devices that accelerate atomic and subatomic particles close to the speed of light. When weaponized, those particles are directed toward a target, which overheats and breaks down through mass bombardment.
“In the heyday of directed energy, we were working on high-power microwaves, several flavors of lasers, and neutral particle beam weapons. Each of these systems has its own advantages and disadvantages,” he said.
Griffin has been charged with shaping the DOD’s technology strategy and says his mission is to restore the technological advantage to the U.S. after years of erosion.
Having served under the first three directors of the former Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (now the Missile Defense Agency), Griffin’s approach to his new role is shaped by years of cutting-edge work on technologies that had previously been considered science fiction.
“We won’t win in a man-to-man fight. We need to have the technological leverage,” Griffin says. “We should not lose our way with the other technologies that were pioneered in the late-1980s and early-1990s and now stand available for renewed effort.”
Griffin says the DOD dropped the ball with directed energy development. But that is now changing as the world enters a new era of “superpower competition,” in which China and Russia seek to undermine the U.S.’s position. He says the department is ready to “put its money where its mouth is” and will identify 10 core technologies for greater investment. One of those is light-speed directed energy weapons for kinetic and non-lethal effects, including high-power microwave energy weapons.
Griffin is uneasy with the pace of technology development overseas, particularly in China, saying the U.S. has fallen behind in some areas. He encourages the U.S. scientific and industrial community to “work harder and run faster” to regain lost ground.
During his presentation, Griffin addressed several others issues, including the department’s choice of lasers. He recalls that within hours of assuming office in February, factions within the military scientific community began lobbying him about whether to back the diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) championed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory or the fiber beam-combining type being pursued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory. Both sides want continued funding.
Griffin says the military should continue to pursue both types, since they each continue to increase in power and efficiency.
“I’ve looked at both and find them both promising,” he says. “I’d urge us to keep a lot of arrows in our quiver as we go forward.”
On laser weapons for boost-phase missile defense, Griffin says that technology is still a long way from delivering operational capability. Nearer-term, he says there may be opportunities to use air-launched interceptors to destroy threatening missiles as they ascend through the atmosphere. This could require the U.S. to maintain airborne patrols that can rapidly respond to threats around nations such as North Korea or Iran.
“I’m concerned about exactly how high you have to be in the atmosphere to have a laser beam with sufficient intensity to score a kill at a reasonable range. Some say you can, some say you can’t. The jury is still out,” he explains. “I’m not uninterested in boost-phase directed energy. It’s just not right here, right now.”
In an apparent signal to the department, Griffin says the U.S. does not have to go down this path alone, and there are opportunities to collaborate with allies and partners on directed energy programs, with the right authorizations and approvals.
“We want to take advantage of the brainpower that our traditional allies and partners can offer in the development of these technologies,” he says. “Where there are opportunities, I’ll be looking for careful and measured, but very real, cooperation. In the long run, that will benefit us.”
SDI is coming back effectively and there will be some amazing new technologies coming in the 6-10 years!
