Directed energy is giving America’s warships a bottomless defensive magazine — replacing multimillion-dollar missiles with a few dollars of electricity, and making the fleet harder to kill than ever.
Epirus and Lockheed would have more data on the collateral effects of microwave-based weapons, but operators are able tune the system to affect specific areas or targets, thus minimizing collateral damage. I know the Epirus system has been field-tested, and the Army thought it was reasonable. I suspect that this could change with higher-powered systems, and that we'll find out soon enough.
With lasers, it's changing fast. Iron Beam can shoot down a lot, but range is limited and atmospheric conditions absolutely matter. The system is a supplement to their other systems (Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow), not a replacement. At least not yet. What you have to understand is that both the equipment and the power sources are improving fast, which is one of the reasons the Trump Administration brought five new SMRs online in the last year. With a mobile nuclear power source available to the Army (that's already available to the Navy), these could go pretty far forward, but what goes forward could also be dramatically more powerful than at present. That's the not-distant future.
This will meaningfully supplement existing air defense pretty fast, as it already is beginning to. It will progressively replace most existing air defense over time. And in the long term, these things can become game-changing offensive weapons. But that is going to take a minute.
A fascinating article, Dr. Martin! I didn’t know the Navy had technology like this! It sounds like something out of Science Fiction but yet is true. We need such weapons now more than ever to protect our sailors and our citizens and respond to imminent threats.
Hello Dr. Martin, you have two comments and two book lists awaiting you. One comment and list on your recent conservation on Securing America about Iran, the other on your segment on NTD News on Venezuela and Canada.
Interesting. What is the collateral impact of a microwave weapon? What is the down range impact of a laser weapon?
Epirus and Lockheed would have more data on the collateral effects of microwave-based weapons, but operators are able tune the system to affect specific areas or targets, thus minimizing collateral damage. I know the Epirus system has been field-tested, and the Army thought it was reasonable. I suspect that this could change with higher-powered systems, and that we'll find out soon enough.
With lasers, it's changing fast. Iron Beam can shoot down a lot, but range is limited and atmospheric conditions absolutely matter. The system is a supplement to their other systems (Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow), not a replacement. At least not yet. What you have to understand is that both the equipment and the power sources are improving fast, which is one of the reasons the Trump Administration brought five new SMRs online in the last year. With a mobile nuclear power source available to the Army (that's already available to the Navy), these could go pretty far forward, but what goes forward could also be dramatically more powerful than at present. That's the not-distant future.
This will meaningfully supplement existing air defense pretty fast, as it already is beginning to. It will progressively replace most existing air defense over time. And in the long term, these things can become game-changing offensive weapons. But that is going to take a minute.
A fascinating article, Dr. Martin! I didn’t know the Navy had technology like this! It sounds like something out of Science Fiction but yet is true. We need such weapons now more than ever to protect our sailors and our citizens and respond to imminent threats.
Hello Dr. Martin, you have two comments and two book lists awaiting you. One comment and list on your recent conservation on Securing America about Iran, the other on your segment on NTD News on Venezuela and Canada.