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The secret weapon of future warfare: How are directed energy weapons changing the battlefield?
In today's rapidly changing war environment, the development of science and technology has brought unprecedented changes to combat. Among them, directed energy weapons (DEW) are known as the secret weapons of future wars because of their special combat methods. This article will explore how directed energy weapons will impact future battlefields and the current status of development in this regard.
Directed energy weapons are weapons that can be fired from a distance, typically causing damage to a target with a highly concentrated amount of energy, without the need for physical ammunition.
The core principle of directed energy weapons is to use highly concentrated energy such as lasers, microwaves, and particle beams to fight against enemy units. Its potential applications include attacking personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical equipment. The U.S. Department of Defense, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Air Force Research Laboratory and other institutions are working on research and development of this type of weapon to combat ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles. These missile defense systems are not expected to be put into use until the mid-2020s at the earliest.
At the same time, countries led by China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Israel and Pakistan are also actively developing military-grade directed energy weapons, while Iran and Turkey claim to already have active weapons in this area. Turkey claimed in 2019 that it had used directed energy weapons for the first time in Libya, which undoubtedly marked the beginning of the practical application of such weapons in modern wars.
Despite decades of research and development, most directed energy weapons are still in the experimental stage, and there are still doubts whether they can be put into use as high-performance military weapons.
Combat Advantage
Directed energy weapons have significant advantages over traditional weapons in some aspects. For example, such weapons can be used to attack in a more covert manner because no noticeable sound or visible light is produced during firing. In addition, light is not affected by gravity and wind in practical applications, which makes aiming more precise and the range almost unlimited.
Depending on certain operational factors, directed energy weapons may be more economical to operate than conventional weapons in certain circumstances.
Different types of directed energy weapons
Microwave weapons
Some of the devices have been dubbed microwave weapons, and some examples have undeniably attracted attention in the military community.
- Active Denial System (Active Denial System) is designed to use millimeter waves to excite the water molecules of the target, thereby producing extreme pain, and is usually used for riot control.
- The Vigilant Eagle system is a land-based air defense system capable of launching microwave defense against incoming missiles.
Laser weapons
As a type of directed energy weapon, laser weapons are attracting increasing attention from various countries. For example, the DragonFire laser weapon currently under development in the UK can lock and attack any target within line-of-sight range with a power of up to 50 kilowatts.
Particle beams and other weapons
Particle beam weapons also have application potential in theory, but there have been no practical demonstrations yet. Plasma and sonic weapons demonstrated various possible tactical uses, such as long-range acoustic devices used for non-lethal crowd control.
Advances in technology also mean that the potential use range of such weapons is constantly expanding, and future wars may not rely solely on traditional bombs and bullets.
Historical background
Directed energy weapons are not new, their origins can be traced back to ancient times. It is said that Archimedes of ancient Greece used mirrors to focus sunlight and burn enemy ships. This concept has been reinterpreted in modern times and pushed to the forefront of experimental research. Since the 20th century, whether it was the exploration of various types of sonic weapons during World War II or the research on laser weapons during the Cold War, they have reflected the continuous evolution of this field.
With the continuous advancement of technology, how will directed energy weapons change the shape of future warfare, and what kind of ethical debates and changes in international relations will be triggered by their application in modern military?
