A controversial effort by the US Pentagon to develop ground-based anti-satellite lasers has been highlighted by Congressional hearings held this week.
The Bush administration is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive. No treaty or law forbids such work.
Northrop Grumman has released a study of the state of the U.S. Defense effort to develop directed-energy weapons. The report also examines the operational implications of their deployment in battle, for missile defense, or in outer space. [ Link to Full Study (PDF, 32pg)]
There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching—and at the speed of light no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons" and may well signal a revolution in military hardware—perhaps more so than the atomic bomb.
While long a staple of science fiction, directed energy weapons have yet to play a major role in warfare. Taylor Dinerman examines the state-of-the-art in this area and the role such weapons might eventually play in space.
A joint Mexico-U.S. effort to build a monster radio telescope in Mexico is causing concerns because the project, the Large Millimeter Telescope, is part of a U.S. Defense Department effort to develop the target acquisition and directed-energy technology needed for anti-satellite warfare.
Overview of the research on adaptive optics and directed energy being done at the U.S. Air Force Starfire Optical Observatory. This facility was previously the subject of a New York Times article which argued the Bush Administration was pursuing anti-satellite laser weapons under the cover of astronomy.
The authors critique the case for space weapons and advocate U.S. unilateral restraint.
The author surveys five futuristic military technologies currently under consideration in the U.S, including laser weapons, space-based kinetic-energy projectiles, and hypersonic missiles.
After sinking 40 years and billions of dollars into beam weapons, defense scientists are on the cusp of what could be a military revolution -- warfare at the speed of light.