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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office under the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications program. It reviews fusion plasma physics, confinement methods and propulsion concepts that use aneutronic fusion fuels such as hydrogen and boron-11. It concludes that pulsed DPF or IEC thrusters may replace satellite ion thrusters in the near term. It also finds that aneutronic fusion propulsion will not be practical beyond the solar system without breakthrough propulsion physics.
From the source: Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD revisits aneutronic fusion propulsion in a more systems-oriented manner, arguing that fusion concepts using low-neutron fuels such as proton-boron or helium-3 could become attractive for space propulsion because they reduce shielding burdens and may support direct conversion of charged-particle energy into thrust or onboard power. The report reviews the relevant fusion plasma physics and focuses on several candidate confinement approaches, then connects those concepts to possible applications in near-space, orbital, and interplanetary propulsion. It presents the most plausible nearer-term use as very high-power electric or plasma propulsion for satellites and deep-space missions rather than atmospheric flight or interstellar travel, while emphasizing that major obstacles remain in ignition, sustained confinement, system mass, power handling, fuel storage, launch integration, and end-to-end engineering.
UNCLASSIFIED/ FOR OFFICIJ!tt t:99[ 8HL¥ (U) Aneutronic Fusion Propulsion The Defense Intelligence Reference Document provides nonsubstantive but authoritative reference information related to intelli ence to ics or methodolo ies. Prepared by: Technology Warning Division (DW0-4) Defense Warning Office Directorate for Analysis Defense Intelligence Agency Authors: AAP Person 85, AAP Person 88, AAP Person 89 COPYRIGHT WARNI NG: Further dissemination of the photographs in this publication is not authorized. This product is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced in FY 2010 under the Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Warning Office's Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications CMWSA} program Comments or questions pertaining to this document should be addressed to !AAP Person 1 }\AwsA Program Manager, Defense Intelligence Agency, ATTN: JUIAF - DI/DWO-3, Bldg 6000, Washington D.C. 20340-5 100. UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OEEICI0l 'Uiii Ql'ik¥ ii
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 36 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.