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.
( UNCLASSIFIED/ ,SF&lil: 8FFI1il.t.k Wfili &,.kY Energy source Lasing Medium Waste heat JD.....__________ Laser beam Figure 3. Basic Laser Concept The principles behind the laser were first described by Basov and Prokhorov at the Soviet Lebedev Institute of Physics in 1952. The first concept demonstration was actually at microwave frequencies (24 GHz) in 1953 by Townes, Gordon, and Zeiger at Columbia University. They called their device a MASER for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The first working laser, initially called an "Optical MASER," produced milliwatts of visible light using a ruby rod as the gain medium. This was done in 1960 by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories in California. Since then, many types of lasers have found uses in an extremely wide variety of applications ranging from everyday life (bar code readers, CD players, flashlights), to industry (cutters, welders, surveyors, levelers), to the military (range finders, precision guided munitions, dazzlers). These lasers have proven to be inexpensive when produced in large quantity, rugged, reliable, and safe. Since the earliest days of the laser, the Department of Defense (DoD) has conceptualized and led the development of high-average-power lasers for weapon applications. There have been many open literature reports of similar work in Russia, China, and other countries. Lasers currently exist in a wide variety of forms with many solids, liquids, gases or even electrons being used for a gain medium to produce beams over a wide range of wavelengths and power levels. However, only a small group of laser types have shown the potential to produce weapon level powers. 4 UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'Pett err1e1111t 652 one I
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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.