Documents / Report
The Defense Intelligence Agency produced this reference document, dated 31 March 2010, under its Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It reviews the state of the art and likely evolution of high-energy laser weapons, including chemical, solid-state, fiber and free-electron lasers, as well as beam control and the history of DoD laser research. It concludes that electrically powered lasers could make megawatt-class weapons practical and that spacecraft laser weapons are conceivable within 20 years. It also recommends ways to protect spacecraft from laser damage.
“The Advance”10 pages
UNCLASSIFIED/ /P9R: 8PPIIIAk Wli&i 811L>C • The thermal control paints applied to the spacecraft's surface should be tolerant of laser heating and not change their characteristics. • The spacecraft structure should be designed to be as resistant as possible to penetration of laser energy. • Potential materials and design approaches should be evaluated by testing for resistance to laser damage. This can be done using commercially available lasers or using available government testing facilities. Sources of Further Information Only one professional society in the United States is centered on development of high- energy laser and high-power microwave weapons and technologies: the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). This organization holds a variety of conferences each year focused on various aspects of directed energy weapons. All of the conferences have portions that are unclassified, and some have classified sessions. Additionally, half-day and full-day introductory or special topic courses are frequently taught prior to the first day of the meetings. Examples of DEPS conferences each year are given below; further information can be obtained from its website (www.DEPS.org): • Directed Energy Systems Symposium. • Directed Energy Programs and Capabilities Conference. • Solid-State and Diode Laser Technology Review. • Ultrashort Pulse Laser Workshop. • Directed Energy Test & Evaluation Conference (cosponsored with the International Test & Evaluation Association). • Annual Directed Energy Symposium. Other societies (U.S. and foreign) have conferences and publications related to the general fields of lasers and optics. Two major examples are: • SPIE (originally the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) who have many conferences annually and sponsor a major event called "Photonics West". Their web site is www.spie.org. • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has an annual spring conference on Beam Control. Their web site is www.aiaa.org. • Air Force Institute of Technology (www.afit.edu) offers a web-based course on HEL weapon technology and systems. 26 UNCLASSIFIED,' /P8"1 8PPll!l"'I! l!l!il! 8111!¥
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 31 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.