‘Bring it’: Adm. Aquilino open to greater directed-energy trials
By Colin Demarest
Aug 28, 02:05 PM
WASHINGTON — The U.S. commander in the Indo-Pacific is interested in more widely experimenting with and deploying directed-energy weapons designed to zap electronics or incinerate incoming threats.
Navy Adm. John Aquilino, who leads the China-focused Indo-Pacific Command, on Aug. 28 said he is “certainly looking for asymmetric advantages” and that industry should “bring it.”
“I’m very encouraged by the high-energy laser capability that’s being experimented with and utilized,” Aquilino said at the NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense conference, held blocks from the White House in Washington. “There’s a few of them on a couple of our ships, to be able to blind, dazzle and kill.”
The U.S. and other nations have for decades pursued directed-energy weapons, capable of taking out targets at the speed of light. The Pentagon for the past three years has spent an average $1 billion on development; it requested at least $669 million in fiscal 2023 for unclassified research, testing and evaluation and at least $345 million for unclassified procurement, according to the Congressional Research Service.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/2023/08/28/bring-it-adm-aquilino-open-to-greater-directed-energy-trials/
