What is Directed Energy?

Directed energy weapons (DEWs), sometimes called E-weapons, include any type of weapon that forgoes use of a projectile in attacking the target. These include lasers, plasma, and various types of particle beams. Frequently directed energy weapons are constructed to be nonlethal. For example, the Active Denial System, which has recently been deployed to Iraq, uses a nonlethal microwave laser. Because it is the most thoroughly tested and seriously deployed directed energy weapon today, let's examine the Active Denial System. This vehicle-mounted system uses a microwave laser at 95 GHz to penetrate human skin at a depth of less than 1/64th of an inch. The result is an extremely painful burning sensation that causes the target to move away from the team as quickly as possible. The range is up to 1 km (0.62 mile). In contrast to a conventional microwave oven, which operates at 2.4 GHz, this directed energy weapon is more energetic but has less penetration depth. Despite its nonlethality, ...  more

"The most comprehensive and up-to-date depiction of the revolutionary change that is about to happen." Naples Daily News "A concise, detailed and fascinating history and explanation of directed energy weapons." Santa Fe New Mexican "Directed energy is the wave (and not just the microwave) of the future, the source of weapons that will prove to be revolutionary Beason attains a kind of high-geekish exaltation that will appeal to readers schooled in Tom Clancy." Kirkus " an excellent read. I highly recommend it " Association of Graduates of the United States Air Force Academy "Beason takes us laypeople by the hand and introduces us to DE weapons - what they are, how they work - in language we can comprehend highly readable " CurledUp.

"Dramatic book title notwithstanding, there is no e-bomb. The military is testing, however, a series of directed energy weapons ranging from lasers to microwaves. Beason, a physicist and the associate director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, offers a spirited defense of these new weapons and their likely impact on the battlefield. He traces their development over the past three decades and notes that they are now on the threshold of deployment. Despite his enthusiasm for technological solutions to military threats — 'The size of the army matters,' he writes, 'but technology wins wars' — Beason concedes that lasers and microwaves are not without their critics, including leading scientists and military officers. Nevertheless, he believes that doubts can be dispelled by addressing people's natural fear of new technology. Beason argues that directed energy applications are already commonplace — LASIK surgery, DVD players, etc. — and explains the science in terms that ordinary people ...  more