Directed energy technology for missile defense is reaching a decisive point for future applications, US Air Force Directed Energy Research Lab Chief Engineer Dr. Kelly Hammett said.
“There is a realization that directed energy technology is essentially at a tipping point,” Hammett said in a speech on the future of ballistic missile defense at the US Capitol on Tuesday.
Directed-energy weapons emit highly focused energy and transfer it to a target.
Hammett explained that developments over the past five years have led experts to conclude that directed energy weapons for missile defense “are feasible and achievable.”
In 2010, the US Department of Defense demonstrated the ability to kill a theatre class ballistic missile in its initial boost phase using a high-powered Airborne Laser (ABL) system.
The initial ABL program ran into numerous problems and limitations, which Hammett noted are being worked out in the current generation of technology under development at the Air Force Research Lab.
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