Laser Technology Will Improve Operations
July 23, 2021
By Kimberly Underwood
As experts see the movement of directed energy technologies onto the battlefield, they are seeing improved warfighting techniques.
Around for several decades, the technology of combined-fiber, high energy lasers are advancing to the battlefield from laboratory or exercise demonstration. The advent of the production of the technology, advanced battery capabilities and higher laser power—along with a mounting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) threat—are all combining into more demand and use by the U.S. military. The transition of laser weapon systems to the battlefield brings with it concept of operations and tactics, techniques and procedures that will improve warfighting, said Michael Jirjis, lead, Directed Energy Weapons Experimentation, U.S. Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Craig Robin, director, Directed Energy Project Office, U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; and Evan Hunt, director, High Energy Lasers and Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems, Raytheon Intelligence and Space.
The officials spoke during a July 22 Institute for Defense & Government Advancement webinar, Laser Weapons Today and Tomorrow.
Laser technology enables warfighters to engage with little to no collateral damage, Robin noted. That property makes directed energy weapons “even more an attractive technology in my mind,” he said.
https://www.afcea.org/content/laser-technology-will-improve-operations
